Tale of Yoshirou
by Uraharaisgod
Summary: 3rd Seat Yoshirou Kenshin, a carefree man who loves no responsibility gets thrown headfirst into a story of adventure, betrayel and love as he does everything to live up to the legacy that was left for him. Summary try 2 sounds better?
1. Chapter 1 The first meeting

_Okay, now I have been reading from this site for quite a few months, and I figured it was high time I started repaying the people who put their times into their storys by adding one in their respects myself! Now please be kind, I have never, ever written stories before and have 0 experiance in the matter, I am more than happy to take any contructive criticism or anything else you happen to put into a review. This story will either live or die by its reviews, if its got problems, I will correct them, if its loved, I will keep on story making, if its just ignored, then i'm sorry but I will drop this and probs never do another story lol. So please, please do review this! (By the way, if the setup looks even slightly wrong, please tell, I have no idea what I am doing here!) even if you only want to write you hated it, please leave a review or this will be dropped pronto._

_Yoshirou is an old design that I had thought up of in my boredom years ago, I designed a shikai for him too, as well as charecter profile and everything, Kira however is made up on the spot, if you want her included as a focus, say so, if you want her forgotten, say so._

_One last note, its subject is adventure/romance, but I dont know how this story is gonna go, I work by the proverbial winds of inspiration, so I still don't know how this will go. If anyone has any ideas of how I could include a romance subject, then please tell, so far I am hovering on using a O.C or a existing charecter, but please take into consideration I am aiming for charecters who are true to their natures, so don't go choosing any impossible to work with combos AND I WILL SLAY THE PERSON WHO SUGGESTS A YAOI! I have little confidence of doing a straight romance, I will probably cough up blood if somebody suggests a Yaoi. Anyhow, I have blabbed enough, on with the story!_

_UPDATE: Hahaha, sorry I forgot, if I wanted the reviews, I had best turn on the anonymous reviews since a decent amount of people are anonymous._

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_PAST_

_It was a nice day, the sun was shining brightly, the leaves falling from the nearby trees drifting gently in the breeze and the garden was a picture of peace. At least that was as far as the lazy 3__rd__ seat was concerned. As always, Yoshirou Kenshin, 3__rd__ seat of the Kido Corps was resting rather than working, watching the leaves float around the garden with a peaceful look gracing his face. This was of no surprise to Tessai as he strode through the gardens and spotted the lazy man lying there. Yoshirou Kenshin, the man was as strange as they come. For such a young shinigami, he had enormous potential, it had taken him a mere twenty years from leaving the academy before he had been given his seat in the Kido Corps, a feat unheard of by nearly any shinigami, the young man was even stronger than that though, he should have become the Vice Captain already, he was definitely stronger than Hachigen, if not quite as skilled in his manipulation of Kido, this was another point, the boys skills were nothing if not varied. He had excellent potential in all forms of shinigami combat, although he developed a love of the complicated incantations needed for Kido. _

_**No, that's not right**__ Tessai thought, __**he loved showing people up by entirely skipping incantations, yet maintaining perfect control of his spells**__. However there was one major problem, this was obvious even to the most stupid of people, the boy was bone idle lazy, he didn't like work, he didn't like fighting and he didn't like taking responsibility. It wasn't that he was a bad person; he was loved by all of the squad members, he did what work he was ordered to, and did it with ample skill (although his annoying complaints got on Tessai's nerves a lot after he had done ANYTHING that resembled hard work). It took a lot of arguing before he even accepted the role of 3__rd__ seat, it was going to be impossible to get him to become the Vice Captain. Most Shinigami would be delighted to have this honour; Yoshirou just saw it as another complication. __**Enough with these winding thoughts, I have to get this boy back to work**__. Tessai strolled over to the man, as he walked, he noticed the young man had noticed his presence and was now pretending to be asleep. However, after the captain spent the next ten minutes staring at the prone figure, the young man gave up the pretence. _

"_Morning Tessai-san! How are you this wonderful day?" _

"_I am as annoyed as always that my lazy, good for nothing 3__rd__ seat is ignoring me" Tessai proclaimed, although without a trace of ire or annoyance in his voice, this was merely the general way that he treated the man, he had quickly learnt when the boy was placed in his squad that the boy had no real respect for others. Its not that he held others in contempt, its just that he saw everyone, be it a new trainee or the captain himself as his equal, it was this attention that earned him the love of his subordinates and the ire of his superiors, although this was not something that annoyed Hachigen or Tessai, they were both very complacent men. _

"_Aww that hurts badly, what did I do to deserve that?" "Nothing, and that's the reason why" "Sooo, I suppose this means you have another task to be handed to me? Don't I do enough for our squad to deserve my rest?" "No" came the blunt reply from Tessai, "You are my laziest subordinate, by a wide margin. Anyway, enough with the small talk, today there is a meeting for the Captains and Vice Captains that is of dire importance, I require that you, for whatever small amount of time it will be, takes responsibility for the squad during my absence" Tessai's voice, while indifferent, held a tone of seriousness that Yoshirou picked up on, and which in turn made him get serious as well. "Okay then Taichou, I can't promise that I will do any of your paperwork for you, but I will deal with anything that comes up until you return. Will that suffice, or will my presence be actually needed in the barracks?" "No, it won't be, besides I have no doubt you will just return here after 5 minutes of my absence" Tessai said while turning to leave._

_"I am actually trusting you with this temporary importance, it is rare that I get summoned by the Gotei 13, I feel that it is imperative that you take this task seriously". Yoshirou, all traces of previous laziness now gone, replied with a "Don't worry, as long as your fast enough with your business, I will hold down the fort for you". Tessai nodded to this, glad that his 3__rd__ seat was now getting a chance to prove he was maybe more than just the lazy individual that he normally was. Tessai walked out of the gardens, leaving the now widely awake Yoshirou to talk to the nearby attendant, alerting him to the circumstances and to spread the message that all information regarding problems were to be taken to the gardens where he was. _

_Yoshirou, good enough to take the responsibility, but still too carefree to return to the barracks, that about summed up his attitude, it wasn't laziness as his captain believed, it was just that he liked to live his life the way he wanted. That was why he joined the Kido corps, despite the numerous invitations he received to join the Gotei 13, even when he was invited to join Squad 1, he didn't care about honour, or respect, he just wanted his freedom….._

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PRESENT

Now 101 years later, Yoshirou was still pretty much the same as always, the carefree 3rd seat that was loved by the people, sitting in his squad's gardens watching the leaves dance in the strong winds that blew that day. However, his squad had suffered during this time gap. A century had taken a lot out of the Kido Corps. After the exile of Tessai and Hachigen, and the events surrounding that destined day, much suspicion had fallen upon the Kido Corps and they had barely avoided being disbanded altogether. It was only a direct appeal from Yoshirou to Yamamoto, captain-commander of the Gotei 13, stayed his hand in disbanding the squad. Yoshirou had to openly show that he was willing to take responsibility and throw away his ties towards his former captain to save his squad. Regardless of the squad's lack of a Vice Captain and a Captain, Yoshirou had taken their responsibilities for himself, although he never felt like taking the titles that came with it. However, despite this the squad quickly became forgotten, receiving only menial tasks and no longer really having any respect or acknowledgement by the Gotei 13, very little of the new generation of Shinigami were even aware of its existence.

This suited Yoshirou perfectly; he kept the squad together by himself, and never had much to do. It was a pity that his squad was no longer receiving any new members, but those that remained were loyal to him, and him alone, he held more respect amongst his men than even the great captains of the Gotei 13. Still, he missed his stoic captain sorely; he knew of Tessai's location, but couldn't make contact with him (only ten years after Tessai's exile, Yoshirou had been ordered to track him down, so that Soul Society could ensure he wasn't attempting anything. Although he claimed that the task was a failure, he had easily found his captain. However, it was Tessai's insistence that he did not make any attempts to communicate with him, since Tessai was rather enjoying his new life as Urahara's shop manager)

Still, this was all stuff just to worry over, and worrying was not part of Yoshirou's nature, simply lying there with not a care in the world was his nature. However, this was not the task that Yoshirou was up to, he was instead going through a particularly difficult Hado incantation that he had recently mastered, skipping incantation for this spell was going to be near impossible so he had to do this one the hard way. Not easy when your incantation could literally take an entire minute. He was wondering how he could combine this spell with his sealing Bakudo when another presence entered the gardens, his 12th seat, Kira Hazuki. Guessing that she probably had swung by to get some instruction from him with her kido, Yoshirou stood back up to face his shorter subordinate. Kira was perhaps the youngest member of his squad, and the newest.

She had joined a mere two years before Tessai's disappearance, although the gap in their ages was only about five years, the gap in their abilities was huge, Kira had managed to learn up to the 31st Hado and the 8th Bakudo with incantations, Yoshirou however, never diverged quite how much he knew to anyone, even Tessai was unaware, after all Yoshirou had gotten rather serious about his training during the time when he took over for his captains absence, and had increased his skills massively. Although nobody was aware of it, his skills easily bested many of the Captains of the Gotei 13, however his immense skill with Kido had allowed him to easily hide his ever increasing reiatsu from all people who would try to learn his power, pick a Captain, he could probably best them, although he could never imagine besting the Sou-Taichou (he was actually suspicious that said person was fully aware of his development, very little escaped the old mans eyes) the only difference between him and the captains was experience, that and his pure nature, he was very peaceful at heart….

"….Taichou!"-Kira was literally shouting in his face. **Whoops** Yoshirou thought, although he had intended to confront her before she reached him, his thoughts must have been drifting "Sorry, how many times did you call me?" "That's the fourth time Taichou"-laughed Kira. **Kira, what a relief that I have at least one person as carefree as me, I'm glad the squad chose her as the message delivery girl** "How many times have I told you, I am not the captain, just the 3rd seat, and how many more times have a told you not to call me by any title? Everybody is equal in this lovely squad" "Lovely indeed, but don't forget this is YOUR squad, not just "this" squad"-Kira chided him "Yeah yeah, I know, jeez I'm reminded every day by the damn paperwork that was handed to me, why in hell don't I just dump this on you guys?"-Yoshirou grumbled "It's because you are such a kind Taichou! Anyway, the message that I have, a direct message from the last messenger you turned away!"-Kira announced cheerfully

"By the way, can I know why you turned him away?" "Sure, cause he wouldn't stop bowing and scraping the floor, I dislike being treated that way, so I told him to leave, get some confidence in himself, then come back again, I don't tend to kill my messengers, at least most of the time" "Well no wonder he was practically crying! He probably thought you were serious about that comment, anyhow Taichou, heres the letter he should have delivered, I've got some practice to do with the rest of the squad, bye!"-Kira said, sliding a letter into his hands and running out of the gardens. **Dammit how many more times is she gonna call me Taichou? **Yoshirou whined in his mind, while quickly looking over the letter, before almost dropping it in surprise. The letter that was in his hands was a direct summon from Yamamoto-sou-Taichou to Squad 1, although there was no mention of the subject of the summons.

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Well there we have it, Chapter 1. Once again, leave suggestions and reviews please, also I am going to include charecter designs for the next chapter, you already know that Kira is shorter than Yoshirou, but I can add more if people want. Anyhow, I also have exams upcoming so sorry if updates become dodgy, see ya at the next update! (Useful reviews get credits btw, not nice comments, constructive, I am not playing "gimme good reviews or I drop", I just want a gods-honest review so I know how I can improve, slander all ya want, just make it contructive for me please!)


	2. Chapter 2 Meeting the SouTaichou

**Well, I got bored and felt like adding a new chapter before the first reviews. I would still like this story to be reviewed since I am merely going by random inspiration. Anyhow, I would like to add one more thing, I am going to be making a filler part that will involve the main charecter meeting certain key captains, namely Hitsugaya, Aizen, Byakuya, Shunsui, Ukitake, Kenpachi and perhaps Unohana, again if you think this idea is any good, then please say so. If you guys don't want that, then I can skip directly towards interaction with the Ryoka, since this story is gonna follow Ichigo's, if at a distance. Anyhow on with the story!**

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**Wow it's been a long time since I last walked around this place, and quite a long time since I last got lost in these damn corridors** Yoshirou mused as he continued through the corridors of the Squad 1 Barracks, oblivious to the direction of the Sou-Taichou's room. **Doesn't seem to have changed much either, still the same boring long hallways, why doesn't he add some outside paths? Maybe throw in a nice garden? Man I hate sparse places, that and the lack of any pointers towards important places. Seems I'm going to have to do the same thing as last time, wait for the first guy to pass and ask him. **Immediately following this, Yoshirou stopped, leaned on the nearest wall and simply waited.

Luckily for him it was less than a minute before he spotted a man walking along the corridor. **Phew, last time I had to wait for nearly half an hour** Yoshirou thought as he went to confront the new man. However, he was surprised when he realised just who he was looking at, standing in front of him was none other than Chōjirō Sasakibe, Vice Captain of Squad 1. **Oh crap, same guy who caught me last time as well **Yoshirou thought with a nervous gulp **I hope to god he's forgotten about the last time. **

"Hello Fuku-Taichou-san, I'm afraid I have gotten lost around this squad, but I have an important meeting with the Sou-Taichou, and I would be in your debt if you could point me in the direction of his chambers" Yoshirou said, opting to take a polite tone in the hope that he wouldn't stir any latent memories in the man before him. "Yes I am well aware you would be most likely lost, after all I was sent to find you; the Sou-Taichou had already predicted that you would get lost AGAIN and did not wish to waste time with waiting for your arrival. And why the sudden change of tone? Last we met; you were particularly disrespectful towards me, 3rd seat Yoshirou" the man stated, with a rather annoyed look upon his face, obviously not happy with the task that had been given to him.

**Yep, he remembers me **"Sorry, but these corridors all look the same to me, surely a person like yourself who has walked them countless times would remember this place, but I don't like to waste time memorizing pointless directions anyway" Yoshirou said, all attempts at feigned politeness now dropped. "Ah yes, that's the rather brash and rude boy I remember. Still, all disgust at your lack of manners must be temporarily forgotten as I do not wish to keep the Sou-Taichou waiting, follow me and do not take any turns I don't, last time I had to go and pull you out of the females sleeping quarters" "Ah good memories, you can't say you didn't have fun trying to dodge all the projectiles the ladies threw at us, Choji!" "No I did not have fun, and I order you to refrain from calling me any nicknames that may take your rather simple fancy" **Jeez can't take a joke** Yoshirou concluded as he followed the now fast disappearing man.

True to his word, Chojiro quickly guided the man to the Sou-Taichou's room, announced his presence and then quickly prompted Yoshirou to enter the room. **Ah now this room I rather like, what a great view of Seireitei! Now, if only I had the time to appreciate this, ah well, better not keep the old man waiting. **Doing something that he had rarely practiced, Yoshirou quickly knelt on the floor and waited for the Sou-Taichou to start whatever this important meeting was to be. Even Yoshirou was not stupid enough to attempt deliberate disrespect to the old man before him, he was one among few who had seen the old man when he was partially serious **Jeez, that was one nasty looking training session, he made that huge guy look like nothing, and that guy's reiatsu felt like it was crushing me, **Yoshirou remembered, since he had caught a glimpse of the two men, apparently practicing something that looked like Kendo, although why the Sou-Taichou was personally training somebody was beyond his comprehension.

The Sou-Taichou finished with the paperwork he had been sorting through, then addressed Yoshirou "3rd Seat Yoshirou Kenshin of the Kido Corps, I have summoned you today to discuss information towards the future of your squad, and to give you a mission to begin as of now. For your sake, we shall begin with the discussion on your squad**" Wow, that's considerate, he knew I'd just get bored if he started with the mission **"I am forever in your service, Sou-Taichou" "3rd seat, I would ask that you would speak candidly with me, this discussion is of rather personal importance, and I would hear your true opinions on the subject" "Thanks, Yamamoto-san" Yoshirou answered, feeling glad that he was been given a chance to speak properly, although at the same time he was now feeling apprehensive **What could be so important that he wants to hear my true opinion?. **Yamamoto nodded, before continuing "As you know, your squad has been in decline over the last years, your squad is still strong, but it is not integrated properly with the Gotei 13, and this growing gap has been cause for worry, following a recent meeting with the captains, it has been decided to abolish the leaderless Kido Corps"

"No! Yamamoto-san why has this been decided! We have always shown support towards the Gotei 13, I have even taken responsibilities towards the squad, there is no need for this!" Yoshirou shouted out vehemently, this was the worst news he had ever received, even the blow of Tessai's disappearance wasn't as bad, Tessai's squad, his last legacy was going to be removed, simply because the other captains were feeling nervous at a lack of communication? "I have always done what I can to keep our squad together, you still use us just the same as before the incident 100 years ago, we have never made a move against the Gotei 13 so why? Why have you decided this?"

"Stay your tongue boy!" Yamamoto growled, releasing a strong wave of Reiatsu as a warning "I gave you permission to speak truthfully, not to lose your temper like this, it is unbecoming of a Shinigami!" Yoshirou had to bite his lip to keep from any retorts to this, Yamamoto was right, losing his cool was going to get him nowhere. However, he wasn't about to give up, the squad was given to him by his former captain and teacher, he wasn't going to go down without an argument. "I apologise Yamamoto-san, this news is rather drastic, but I must ask you to reconsider"

"No I shall not, the leaderless Kido Corps is too much of a risk, your members are quite strong, and loyal only to you, even I feel my personal control of them is second to you, with no assurance of a united control, we cannot allow the Kido Corps to continue" **Ah…..** Yoshirou said, realization dawning on him.** That's unfair, I can see what he's trying to do now. Damn, he's given me no room to maneuver; I can only accept his terms. **"Okay, I think I get what you're saying now, you cannot allow a leaderless Kido Corps to continue, but what if a new leader was chosen, one who would be integrated properly back into the Gotei 13 like Tessai was years ago? More specifically, you want me to do this. Would that be enough to stay your hand?" Yamamoto, slightly surprised that the man had caught on so fast, replied "Yes, that would be enough to stay my hand. If a new captain was to take control of the Kido Corps, one that would align with the Gotei 13, then yes the communication that the captains are worried over would be assuaged; there would be no need to disband the Kido Corps"

**Damn, there goes my freedom**. "Then I accept the charge, I will become the new Captain of the" "Not so fast, what makes you pre-empt me?" Yamamoto declared. Yoshirou, now thoroughly confused, awaited the explanation for this. "One of the basic requirements of all Captains is that they are able to use Bankai" **Aww man, I don't need this** Yoshirou complained internally "Yamamoto-san, I'm afraid I have not achieved Bankai, but the same could be said of Zaraki Kenpachi, the Squad 11 captain who has yet to obtain even Shikai. I believe that I can cope without the need for Bankai" Yoshirou declared, hoping the old man was going to drop it at that.

Unfortunatly, just as Yoshirou suspected, he didn't. "You cannot hide it from me, I can tell that over the years you have dramaticly increased your powers, regardless of how hard you try and hide it. I also know from informers that you are near completion of your Bankai already" **Shit, cat's out of the bag**. "No point in hiding it then, how did you find this out?" Yamamoto picked up a letter from his desk and handed it to Yoshirou, oddly enough it was a unanimous formal complaint. Scanning over the words, he read;

_A shinigami has allowed access to the Seireitei to an unknown lady, no recognizable insignia's apart from a sun tattoo across her forehead, yet the clothing obviously points to her not being from Rukongai. After trying to tail the two individuals, I must report that the lady disappeared from sight with no trace; I request that this Shinigami be detained for breach of security._

**Aww crap, I knew materializing her for a conversation was a bad idea afterwards, brilliant going blockhead. **"I have seen your Shikai before Yoshirou, and I know from information given to me by the Onmitskido that you have had no contact with individuals outside Seireitei for twenty years, there was no way you could have given access to anybody in this time unless they were already present. From this, I could conclude that you were materializing your Zanpakuto, be glad that I managed this case myself, had I followed protocol, you would be in the Maggots Nest by now"

"Gee thanks" Yoshirou muttered "I suppose this means you want me to complete my Bankai first? Have I any time limits upon this?" "As of yet it is undecided, I have yet to inform the captains of my decision regarding yourself, I decided to make sure you were aware before the decision was made. However, I would imagine that you have perhaps a single year**" A year, that's kinda tight, I know I'm pretty far prepared, but if I have to prepare my squad for these new events, I'm going to be pretty preoccupied, hey Taiyou, you have anything you want to say about this?**

_**Have confidence in yourself, this matter will solve itself as long as you focus. Don't worry about the time limit, put everything you have into this task and you will be ready for anything.**_

**Yeah that's the bit I don't like doing, commitment (A feminine laugh in his thoughts). Don't laugh in my mind that's damn confusing!**

"Are you finished with your conversation?" Yamamoto inquired. Embarrassed, Yoshirou tried to keep a straight face "Good guess, I suppose you converse with Ryūjin Jakka sometimes?" "Whenever I have difficult decisions to make, it was his suggestion to perhaps make you a Captain rather than remove your squad all together" **Thanks Ryūjin Jakka **Yoshirou thought honestly. "Well I suppose this means that my business is finished here then?" "Regarding your squad, what I had to say is now finished, but I will also make you aware that if you do manage to gain my approval towards being a Captain, I will restore the Kido Corps back to its original state, alongside allowing new recruits to join and once again including your aid into major operations when they are needed"

"My thanks, and with that I shall take my leave" Yoshirou said, getting up

"Once again, you are forgetting something Yoshirou, did I not say that I had a mission for you earlier? I believe you have heard of the execution of Kuchiki Rukia?"

"Yes I have, poor Byakuya, I'm going to have to go see him about this" Yoshirou said, remembering the captain. He had known Byakuya from years past, they had gone on missions together before, back when all he would do was bitch about how Yoruichi had annoyed him the last time they met. Man that guy had talent, both he and Byakuya had healthy respect for each other's talents, at least that was 100 years ago, they had fallen out of contact after the incident… "It would be good to see him again" "A fair warning Yoshirou, a lot has changed since the Kido Corps retreated from normal contact with the other squads. Byakuya especially, since he has taken the role of the head of his house"

"Still, I might as well see him, that and I have to catch up with my other friends"

"Yoshirou, you have yet again diverged from the point of this conversation, don't make me regret my choice regarding giving you lenience towards your squad. Once again, your mission is this: To aid where you can towards the capture of the Ryoka, and to maintain observation of the Captains and report directly to me"

"…huh?" Yoshirou was at a loss for words "Why am I reporting on the Captains?"

"I have observed that some of the Captains have had mixed feelings towards this execution, due to the events surrounding the execution. I don't doubt you have probably not learnt of the reasons. Regardless, I am unsure as to the intentions of my captains and I need observation from an unconnected source. You are both known and unknown to the Captains, they see you as the talented 3rd Seat that you are, not a Vice Captain and not a Captain, some of them may come to regard you as a friend that they may talk to, since you have no ties towards the Gotei 13"

"I don't like the sound of this, this sounds like spying" Yoshirou was feeling uneasy now. "That it most definitely isn't, my aim is to find where the problems are and perhaps solve them before it gets out of hand. See it as one concern abated can save a rash decision later" "Hmm your right, all right Yamamoto-san, I accept, but what am I going to do if a new person considers me a Ryoka? I don't exactly hold a well known emblem like the squads and reports tell me a Shinigami is among the Ryoka" "Just ask to be shown to a captain, all captains are aware of the existence of the Kido Corps, so there will be no problems"

"All right then, I will be off now" Yoshirou said as he headed for the door. However, just before he closed it, his impetuous streak made him add "No promises that I'm going to work hard though!"

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Well there we have it, another chapter been and gone! For the curious, the one part where the italics and bold are combined, thats the inner voice of his Zanpakuto, Taiyoukousen (Lit. Rays of the Sun). She is nicknamed Taiyou (lit. Sun) for simplicities sake. She will also be another charecter that I will have to work on (my original plan had been a golden wolf spirit, but I redecided on a female woman on intuition, easier to work with). Anyhow, don't forget to review! Also if you wan't to, suscribe as well for chapter updates. Compared to how popular this gets, I may redecide on update times, its either gonna be every 2 weeks, every week, or random (random means whenever I get the feeling, hell that could even be multiple updates on one day, who knows?)


	3. Chapter 3 Facing the Future

**Well here is yet another update, now I know it's impossible for this story to have many readers, but as of the moment I am quite caught up with writing this, I have no doubt I will probably have a good 20,000 words by the end of this week alone, this ones the second chapter added today. This time I thought I would try some P.O.V swaps, dunno if they work or not but it should add some interest towards the story, have fun reading!**

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**Oh man I never imagined that I would be placed in this predicament** Yoshirou thought, once again located within his favourite garden. The sun was starting to set, but it was at this place that he felt most at ease, it reminded him of the times that he could simply sit and watch the leaves while everybody else dealt with the burden of leadership. **Captain huh? Wouldn't Tessai be choking on his food if he heard that one?**

_Quick P.O.V change_

*Atchoo!* was the sound than rung throughout the small confectionary store, lifting surprised looks from Urahara, the stores owner. "What's got you sneezing so loudly this time? Think a beautiful girl is speaking about you from somewhere else? Or perhaps they were talking about me and you simply picked up the wrong signal?" Urahara inquired, his traditional fan waving in front of his face. "No Tenshou, I have a baaad feeling that something has gone horribly awry somewhere, has Jinta-dono managed to mix up someone's orders?"

_Back to the Gardens_

**What on earth am I going to do now? First off even more people are going start referring to me as Taichou, it was bad enough with just Kira, oh speak of the devil…. **Kira was once again running across the gardens towards the troubled man. "Taichou, what are you doing out here so late? Isn't it starting to get cold?" "Really huh? I hadn't noticed". That comment got a surprised look from Kira, normally her superior would have made some wise crack or even pretended to ignore her, she had rarely heard him use a melancholic tone; that was normally reserved for whenever he was forced to bring up the issue of his old Captain.

"Whats got you so down in the dumps Taichou?" "Oh nothing, just had some difficult issues to iron out with Yamamoto, nothing of interest to you guys" "Really huh? If you want to talk about it, I'm more than happy to listen" **No, this isn't something I can let those guys know of quite yet, I tell her, I might as well announce it to the squad, she can't keep any secret **Yoshirou thought to himself** Hey wait since when was Kira interested in my well being? **"Hey you sound like you care about me, you starting to get feelings for me or something" Kira considered this comment for a few seconds, before replying "Well I could be, if you are willing to tell me what was on your mind!" **Bah, I really can't understand this girl** "No such luck there Kira, my thoughts are for myself" "Oh fine then, be miserable then"

They both just stood there for a minute, simply watching the sun set, Yoshirou was actually glad of her presence, he had forgotten the immense weight of the thoughts from what he had been told for a few minutes, these kind of moments were going to be rare for the next while. "Anyway Taichou, I had come out here for another reason! I want you to see this new Hado that I've managed to learn!" with this, Kira practically demolished the quiet moment by roughly pulling on Yoshirou's arm, enthusiastically pulling him back towards the Kido Corps barracks.

"Okay, okay, what is this great new Hado you are going to show me?" Yoshirou had found himself pulled the entire way to the special training arena within the barracks. Since Kido was, as it's name suggests, a rather destructive style of fighting, you needed rather large areas to practice. "I managed to learn number 54!" **Wow, I didn't know that she was managing to get that far so fast! I know that she can't have been practicing this spell for more than two months since I had her take the crash course for Bakudo.** Still this was not the comment that he chose to give to her. "I'm pretty sure I had asked you to practice your Bakudo rather than your Hado, your mastery of only one half of the scope of Kido is rather disheartening"

"Like I could ever use Bakudo, it's not in my nature to be able to use it Taichou!"** Well she has that right; she's a bundle of energy, not one to be able to master the more passive Bakudo. **"You don't neglect the basics, your no.08 could barely repel a determined fly" "Whatever, your missing the point, I want to show you this awesome skill!" Kira settled into a stance and started the chant for her spell, her eyes locking determinedly onto the target across the room. **Heh that's a good idea for some fun** "Wait a second there Kira!" Kira, now thoroughly annoyed with her captain, turned back to him. Yoshirou had turned and picked up a small weight from behind him, and held it out towards her "Use the Kido on this"

"W-W-What? Your going to hold onto the target Taichou?" Kira was now thoroughly shocked, she knew the destructive capabilities of her spell; even a slight mistake would cause a lot of damage. "Well if you get it right, then nothing but the target should be destroyed right? I won't even be slightly harmed" "N-n-no, I can't do that, I-I'm not confident I could get it right" Yoshirou, now exasperated at Kira's lack of confidence replied "In the heat of a battle, you need the will to take any risks, and carefully keep all of your allies safe from the destruction of your Kido, this is an important lesson that everybody must learn"

"A-A-All right I'll try" Kira once again settled into the stance, albeit this time her arms were shaking slightly. She started the incantation once again, but Yoshirou could tell something was off, she was rushing her words. "Kira, calm, you can do this, I can trust you with my life." Yoshirou assuaged her. This brought a slight embarrassed flush to Kira's cheeks**. How cute**. Kira, breathed in deeply, managing to bring the flush back under control "Alright" she said, her usual confidence back in her eyes. Good, she's calmed down now, while this is important for her to learn, I'd prefer to keep my arm intact. Kira once again started the incantation, this time her chant was fluent, as she reached the end of the chant, she shouted out "Hado no.54, Haien!" A purple bullet of condensed reiatsu crossed the gap between herself and Yoshirou, and the object within his hands burst into flame. Thankfully, Yoshirou couldn't feel any of the heat from the object, Kira had done it right. "See, wasn't that easy?"

"No, that wasn't! I've barely managed to learn that spell and you have me cast it right at you? Why did you have to make it so difficult for me?" Kira complained. Yoshirou turned his back striding away "What was there to worry about? I trusted you would get it right". Once again behind his back Kira lit up like a Christmas tree. Quickly regaining her composure she followed Yoshirou back to his office. **I might have to start thinking about restructuring the squad, her skills are progressing faster than I could have anticipated, at this rate she's going to overtake all the other slowpokes in this squad within the next couple of years! **Yoshirou contemplated as he strode over to his desk**. Hey that's odd, I'm sure I had a load of paper work to get doing. **No matter what way he looked at his desk, it was unavoidably lacking of any paperwork. Now this normally wouldn't concern him, but after all of the activity he had from today, he felt it was more important than ever to make sure it looked like he was coping with all of his work.

After leaving the desk, Yoshirou hunted under the sofa (his hiding spot for things he disliked, and for all general rubbish). **What the hell is a chappy gikongan dispenser doing under there? **Yoshirou thought, giving a quick accusing glance at Kira, who quietly whistled away acting all innocent. Still finding no success in locating his paperwork, he quickly glanced around the windowsill for in case he had placed it there, he even looked out the window to see if it could have blown outside. Thoroughly disturbed by the phantom paperwork, he decided to try resorting to Kira.

"Hey Kira, did you happen to see any paperwork lying around the place earlier?" "Yep, quite a decent stack was on the desk earlier!" **Oh shit, somebody must have thrown them out!** Yoshirou thought, now in full panic mode. "But don't worry Taichou, I finished them off and put them into the filing room!" "Really?" Yoshirou asked, stopping himself from charging straight out of the room. "Why did you go and do my paperwork? I didn't assign it to you." "Simple, earlier on you said you were getting annoyed with the paperwork, so since you were busy with whatever that letter was about, I decided to go through the work for you! No need to thank me, you simply have to learn that you don't have to shoulder everything by yourself!" Yoshirou was gobsmacked, he never expected his air headed subordinate to do something like that, or even to be able to say something so profound.

**Hey Taiyou, I know you're watching this all unfolding, got a question for you, if I become a Captain, wont I have to assign a Vice Captain as well?**

_**You already know the answer to that, why ask me that question? No, what your really asking is do I think that Kira would be able to support you if you did take the post of Captain.**_

**Heh busted again, so what do you think?**

_**Frankly, nothing in the world could support such an ego as your own**_

**Oh thanks a bunch for nothing (feminine laughing) I told you to stop doing that already! It's gonna give me nightmares if you keep it up!**

(P.O.V change:Kira)

Kira was once again watching Yoshirou as he conversed with his Zanpakuto, she could always tell when he was, although he never knew, whenever he retreated to his thoughts, his normal blue eyes started glowing a gentle gold colour. **Actually, I'm probably the only person attentive enough to notice that, everybody else takes it that he's ignoring them. Still, it's pretty odd that he's able to contact his own Zanpakuto so easily, most people have to go directly into their souls to converse, I've never heard of a person who could make contact through their minds before. I wonder what it must be like… **Kira once again found herself wondering what exactly it must be like to be this man, a man who for 100 years had taken the full weight of governing a squad with no direct help from any other individual, ever since his great teacher had cruelly abandoned them, exiled for whatever heinous act he had committed, leaving nothing but desolation to the squad behind him. How could such a person still find the strength to laugh so happily, to make us all feel as though we are a family within this squad? It was a strength that was beyond her comprehension, and she felt that what little she could do to aid this man would be worth going to any lengths for, be it just being that one person who would show him a smile no matter what…

(P.O.V change: Yoshirou)

"Well that's odd, normally its people going at me for not being attentive" Yoshirou said, snapping his subordinate's attention back to the here and now. "Having a fun daydream there?" "Well I was imagining how you are going to reward me for doing so much work for you; perhaps you could help me tomorrow with my practice?" **Ouch, so it wasn't all roses and sunshine, she wanted me to help her tomorrow** "Maybe not tomorrow, that letter which I got? Instructions for a new mission for me" "Aww no fair! I had to work hard to get through all of that paperwork" Kira said, looking particularly miffed.

"Hey Kira, I got a question for you, do you think you would have what it takes to be a Vice-Captain?" Yoshirou was curious as to what reply he was going to get, although he never imagined the one that did come. "You're planning on transferring me somewhere else to be a Vice-Captain? What did I do to deserve being taken out of this squad? I don't even have the skills to be a Vice-Captain, yet your suggesting I leave and join the Gotei 13 squads?" **What the heck? What made her come to that conclusion in what I said?** As Kira continued shouting at him, it drew some attention from the other squad members nearby, although after noting exactly where the source of the argument was, they all came up with the same conclusion and promptly ignored the outburst **(Marital arguments between those two, nothing we want to get our heads lost in.)**

"Calm down, I wasn't intoning anything by it, I was just curious!" Yoshirou had to literally shout at the distraught Kira**. Holy, I didn't know Kira could lose it like that! **"Anyway, I didn't mean a different squads, I meant if I was the Captain, would you have what it takes to be my Vice-Captain!" "Huh?" Kira was completely confused at this new declaration from Yoshirou, until it dawned on her that he meant becoming his direct subordinate, his second in command and his supporting figure. For the third time that evening, Kira's face once again took a red tone. However, Yoshirou was totally oblivious to it, having more concern with trying to calm the situation. "Look it was just an idea that crossed my mind, asides it's getting late, you had best be getting to the sleeping quarters." Kira, not sure if her voice would betray her feelings, quickly nodded and left.

**Wow that got really out of hand. What on earth made her act like that?**

_**I think you underestimate just how committed that girl is to you. Don't forget, unlike all of the other squad members, she only really knows what it has been like to be under you leadership, she barely even met the previous Captain and Vice-Captain.**_

**Hey they have names!**

_**I'm sorry; I meant Tessai-san and Hachigen-san. My point being is that she has only ever seen you lead the squad. She looks up to you like the true figure of authority, after all the Sou-Taichou withdrew from all major contact with the Kido Corps after that incident. That's also why she still insists on calling you Taichou despite your insistence that she does not. To her you are truly a Captain in every way.**_

**Really huh? I never really saw it that way. I suppose you are right, that was kind of stupid of me to suggest something that could be easily misinterpreted**

_**No, that wasn't your mistake, she simply acted rashly**_

**Hmm… Anyhow it's high time I started getting some rest. Tomorrow I'm going to have to start my mission.**

_**Any plans on where to begin?**_

**Yep, and you can guess who it is I'm going to first**

_**Byakuya Kuchiki**_

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Well yet another chapter finished. I read on my story traffic this has been read 7 times, in actuality I have no idea if thats really 7 or just me miscliking and visiting the page that many times. As you can see, I have started to add some padding to the story. I must apologise for all those who disliked my idea of how Haien should work, I just felt like throwing that in, it sounded rather adequete to me. As always, I ask that people review and possibly send me any hints and tips via messages, i don't have to remind you that this is a first try and I am practically begging for a more experianced hand at this to help me.

Also sorry if Yoshirou started to sound a bit serious there, I am trying to strike a balance between humerous, carefree and serious all in one charecter. Since I have never written before I am simply going as my feelings go.

(Final note, these chapters are slowly starting to get longer lol, I dunno if people would prefer shorter chapters or not, once again say which would be your preferred style in your reviews!)


	4. Chapter 4 Rukia's crime

**Aww, still no reviews, ah well, there are people seeing this story so I can't complain, but please, if you are here to read, please review! It doesnt take much, just click on the review tab, choose a random name and type! The anonymous reviews are on! Now I know last chapter I showed that we were going to Byakuya, but while sleeping last night I realised theres no point if the main charecter doesn't know what hes doing, so we have information hunting to begin!**

**(Update: Just correcting some minor mistakes I noticed while re-reading this document)**

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**Well, now begins hell** was the first thing that floated through Yoshirous mind as he prepared for the day's events that morning.

_**Do stop being so melodramatic, it doesn't suit you**_

**Ah good morning to you as well, grumpy that I didn't say hi to you first?**

_**Hardly, you just kept me up quite a long time last night, don't plan things in your dreams; I have to stay awake if you do that since your mind doesn't rest.**_

**Ah sorry, I forgot that, I'll be careful of that in future. Well I think I've gotten my plan for today sorted. First thing is that I had best learn what all of this execution stuff is about, after all I can't meet Byakuya if I don't have a clue what to talk about, that's only going to make me look stupid, and I may hit the wrong nerve if I'm not careful. SO first port of call is that prison their holding this Kuchiki Rukia in. Now you ready for your part?**

_**Obviously, but I'm yet to understand just why I have to come with you**_

**Simple, I have no clue what kind of effect an oddly cheery person like me might make on the prisoner, I'd rather entrust you with speaking to her. After all, you are far more emphatic than me.**

_**Okay then, but you owe me for doing this.**_

**You know, you are perhaps the strangest Zanpakuto I have ever heard of, no other person has a Zanpakuto that holds requests of them, or even communicates in the same way we do. What on earth kind of thing could I owe a Zanpakuto?**

_**Don't be rude, you know that compared to most, I am rather more personalised. All Zanpakuto reflect their master's souls. Since your soul is best personified as freedom, I have a lot more leniency in how I act than most Zanpakuto.**_

**Aww, I didn't mean to be insulting you, after all your part of my own soul, you know I do care for you.**

_**I know, I just wanted you to apologise**_

**Tch that was petty (feminine laughter)… I'm sure I've told you to stop that countless times… anyway; we don't have all day, let's get going.**

Reaching for his Zanpakuto, Yoshirou concentrated, focusing his spiritual pressure into the blade and willing the Zanpakuto to materialise. Soon enough the blade gave off a gentle golden glow, the light departed from the blade, reforming beside Yoshirou as his own Zanpakuto's spirit form. A beautiful woman stepped out from the light, dressed in a flowing brown Kimono with golden leaves designed throughout it. Prominent as always was the sun tattoo on her forehead. The long golden hair flowing down her back, as always attracted Yoshirou's attention** Wow I keep on forgetting just how beautiful my Zanpakuto is. Anyway…** "Wait here one moment" Yoshirou said before disappearing out of the door. A few minutes later he returned, but now carrying a black shihakshou. "Sorry but last time I materialised you, you attracted some unwelcome eyes that nearly got me in a whole lot of trouble. Would you have a problem with wearing a Shihakshou?" "None, although I'm curious as to how you figured out my size for that Shihakshou?" **Err, crap I didn't** Yoshirou summarised** I just picked up the first female Shihakshou I found.** "Alright, I'll go and find some more sizes just in case, but surely that one would do you?"

Yoshirou now had another trouble on his mind. Damn, how in hell will I find a specific sized Shihakshou for a woman, scratch that, how on earth am I going to explain why I am stealing female uniforms? Luckily for him however, he found a bunch of them stacked away in the spare supplies room. Even luckier, he managed to make it back to the room before anybody spotted him. "All right I'm coming back in" Yoshirou said as he walked in the door. However, he found himself oddly surprised at the sight before him. The Shihakshou that he had first brought in hadn't even moved an inch, his Zanpakuto must have decided against it, instead he found that his own cupboard had been ransacked and his Zanpakuto was standing in front of him wearing one of his OWN uniforms.

"Taiyou, why on earth did you steal one of mine?" "I guessed correctly that your size and mine were close enough, and I just felt like trying out one of my own masters uniforms." Yoshirou was unsure whether to laugh or feel touched by that comment; however he was feeling odd seeing a beautiful woman standing in his own clothes. "Well whatever you want then, just make sure to tie the belt tight, it's still a bit big for you" **except around the chest** Yoshirou concluded internally, **shit what made me think that? "**Careful of your thoughts, it's showing on your face Yoshirou" Taiyou laughed, while leaving the room ahead of him. **Oh this day sounds like its going to be fun** Yoshirou thought sarcastically.

(Inside the prison barracks)

**Well, we made it in one piece** Yoshirou thought to himself **seems the drain on my reiatsu for keeping my Zanpakuto spirit out was less than I expected, I would have thought at least a decent fraction would be gone by now, yet I still feel fine, must be getting used to the effects of materialisation** (little did he know it wasn't that, he was the only man in Soul Society who could do this kind of materialisation with no side effects). So far they had made it through Soul Society with next to no interruptions aside the wolf whistles coming from some stupid Squad 11 men. Seems he wasn't the only person who thought his Zanpakuto was beautiful."Anyway, time to say hello to Miss Kuchiki Rukia"

A young lad looked up upon hearing this comment before nervously walking forward "S-s-sorry but do you have a-any permission to *gulp* interrogate Rukia-san?" "Huh? Relax kid, I only came here to get some simple information regarding what exactly this whole situation is, I have no intentions of forcing any answers out of anyone" "R-really? Thank you for being so, erm, relaxed about this, Rukia-san is in a rather bad state, perhaps your visit could make her feel better?" "Well if it helps I suppose, would you mind letting us in?" "B-b-both of you? I-I'm not sure if multiple people are allowed"

"Hrm, well kid, thing is this lady is my-" "I can speak for myself thank you" Taiyou said quickly. "This case is a bit special, so could I ask that you please let us both in?" "erm, I suppose you both look and sound like good people, o-okay then"

"You do know technically since we are both the same person, I could have said we were one anyway?" Yoshirou asked Taiyou as the young boy walked away to get the key's to the cell. "Yes and just how confused did you plan to make the lad? You seem to forget that it isn't exactly a common occurrence for people to randomly summon their Zanpakuto spirits on a personal whim" **Why does she always have to make me sound like I'm a kid, we are both the same age damn it! **Yoshirou whined internally, now spotting the young lad returning. The boy proceeded to open the cell door before ushering them in and closing it behind them. Now his eyes were adjusting to the new darkness, he spotted the Kuchiki Rukia in question. **What the heck? She's nothing like I imagined a criminal would be, she's too young!** Yoshirou thought as he looked over the girl in the seat. The girl had yet to even acknowledge they had entered the cell, although Yoshirou thought this was more likely due to her own thoughts rather than ignoring them, her face was drawn into a painful to look at sorrow. **What on earth could a girl like this be doing on execution row? What did she do, assassinate a noble or something? I can see why Yamamoto warned me there may be problems involved with this; she doesn't look like the kind of person who was capable of harming people.**

"Hello, err, Rukia?" Yoshirou said, just not bothering with suffixes or other formalities**. Might as well treat her as a friend, she looks like she needs one, Kuchiki or not, she looks in a bad position. **Yoshirou didn't expect the girl to violently snap her head around to look at him, shock registering in her eyes, although that quickly died down as she saw who was speaking to her.** Great, I scared her, what a good start **"My name is Yoshirou Kenshin, and this here is my… associate Taiyou" This earned him a quiet chuckle from said Zanpakuto "I'm sorry if I made you jump or anything Rukia, it wasn't my intention"

"No that's not it" came the quiet reply "You just sounded like him for a second" **Him? Who's this person she's on about? Uh-oh she's starting to look even more depressed now **"Anyway, I just came to try and figure out what this whole execution thing was all about, you look too young and innocent to be a criminal in my honest opinion" this earned him a soft, sad laugh. "You even talk like him, headfirst diving in without understanding anything" **Oh man I am so making a bad impression**

"Yoshirou, if you don't mind, could I take over this conversation?" Taiyou said, placing a hand on Yoshirou's shoulder and steering him towards the door "Why don't you try talking with that other lad outside?" "Err sure, hey Kid! You mind unlocking this door so I can get out!"

(Outside the cell)

Yoshirou decided he would perhaps get something out of the young lad instead. "Hey, I never really introduced myself to you, Yoshirou Kenshin, 3rd Seat of the Kido Corps". At this the young lad's eyes lit up. "Y-Y-Yoshirou-san! I have heard about you before from our Taichou before, you're the Captain of the Kido Corps aren't you?" **Oh boy, I'm sure I just said 3****rd**** seat, seems those in the new generation who know of me seem to think I'm a captain too. **"Yeah we can go along with that then, who is this captain you speak of? The one who told you who I am." "Ah that would be Unohana-Taichou" **Ah Unohana **Yoshirou thought to himself **She was one of the people who also asked me to join their Squad when I graduated from the Academy **"Yeah I remember Unohana, even after I joined the Kido corps, she also used to spend some time instructing me in how to best make use of my abilities, what few healing techniques I know are from her."

"Y-Y-You were personally instructed by Unohana-Taichou? A-Amazing, not many people e-e-ever receive lessons from the captain, you must really be skilled." **Oh great, I have adoring fans among Squad 4, Unohana, why did you have to tell them about me? **"A-A-Anyway, my name is Hanatarō Yamada, 7th seat of Squad 4; it is a pleasure to meet you!" "Like wise Hanataro, anyway, I was curious as to what exactly Rukia is here for, who did she have to kill to earn herself an execution?" "S-S-She did no such thing! R-Rukia-san didn't do anything as nasty as that, she isn't the type of person who could do that!" That's what I thought looking at her "So what exactly was her crime?" "She gave her power to a human" "… What?"

(Back in Cell) (P.O.V change: Taiyou)

"You're being executed because you gave a human your power?" Taiyou couldn't understand it, **this girl's only crime was to give a human her power? She was being executed merely for that? **"Yes, I committed a grave crime by giving my power to him, I had failed my task, his family was at risk because of me and it was my last method I could use to save him and the innocent family from a hollow attack. If it had failed, many more would have been killed because of it"** Impossible, she is taking all of this responsibility when all she did was try to do the right thing? **"I still don't see how this merits an execution though" "It is the choice of the Central 46 that I should die for my sins, I am ready to accept this punishment for what I did" **How can this girl so calmly say this, I'm going to have to talk about this with Yoshirou.**

"Okay then, I have a different question for you now. Earlier on when Yoshirou tried to speak with you, you kept referring him towards this other "person" you spoke of, who is he?" Rukia didn't reply for a few seconds, before quietly saying "Kurosaki Ichigo"

(Outside of Cell) (P.O.V change: Yoshirou)

"Kurosaki Ichigo? Interesting name, did she tell you what he was lik**e?" I wonder, is there any possibility this was the person she kept referring to? **"A b-bit, she always spoke of how brash and headstrong he was, y-yet his heart was always in everything he did, h-he sounds like a really confident and strong person f-from how she spoke of him"** Ah, that wasn't me she was comparing him to then, I'm not very committed to stuff. **"So she is fond of him then" "I-I would say so, but she seems so upset whenever she speaks of him, a-always saying of how she destroyed his life, m-m-making him something he didn't want to be"** Ah now I get it, she's consumed by guilt of what she has done to the man, but why? From what I've heard of, this guy doesn't sound the type to hold such grudges against people **Yoshirou thought** No, that's not right, that's how I would be in that situation, I have no idea how a human would react to being made a shinigami. **"Still, this doesn't sound right, I can understand it being punished, but not with execution" "T-To be honest, I agree with you Yoshirou-san, I-I don't think this is fair either" Yoshirou looked down at the young lad, surprised that he would hear such things openly from him** Wow, for all of the stuttering and such, this kid has a good heart. **"Well, don't go parading that view of yours, it could get you in serious trouble, don't worry though, I don't like this either, I'm going find out more from the other people involved."

(Inside the Cell) (P.O.V change: Taiyou)

"Well this has been a good talk; I know now exactly what is going on, although I dislike it having known. Still, don't give up hope, there's always a chance for salvation in anything" Taiyou turned to leave, but a niggling thought had her turn back to the young girl again. "Do you love him, this Kurosaki Ichigo of yours?" another sad laugh "A person like me doesn't deserve to love anyone" **Wow, she really is beating herself up over this** "You didn't answer my question" "Do you love that man?" Rukia asked back instead "…" **How do I respond to that? **"See, my answer is just the same as your own, I don't know, I know I care for him, as obviously as you care for that Yoshirou, but I don't know beyond that. Still, this has been an interesting talk, it's rare I get many visitors outside of Hanataro doing the cleaning, if you do come back, tell that man that I wouldn't mind talking to him next time" "Okay, but I don't know if we are going to have the chance to return" "Oh, okay then, goodbye, Taiyou"** Why does that sound like a final farewell? **Taiyou thought as she knocked on the door.

(Outside the Prison Barracks) (P.O.V change: Yoshirou)

The two walked along the path silently both lost in the same thoughts. Is this really right? My mission involves keeping the Captains from doing anything rash over this business, yet I feel like if anything I am going to do something instead. "Yoshirou, don't lose yourself in this" Taiyou told him. "Don't forget you have another responsibility, towards your squad. If you act rashly now, the entire squad will be doomed, you're their only chance at being kept together. One other thing, the squad is loyal to you, if you move; they will move with you, you could spark a civil war if you make one wrong move in this affair." "I know, I know, it doesn't make this any damn easier, I just thought I had to keep my head down, do the work, get my approval and everything would be perfect, but this is going to eat away at me, I can't just stand by and do nothing!"

"Then don't, do what you must to try and alleviate this, remember what Yamamoto said? Once concern abated can save a rash decision later, perhaps you can salvage this by keeping a level head, and try to help her while staying within the rules." "Yeah your right, the first thing I can do is try to gather allies towards appealing to get her pardoned, that's within the rules right? Well the first step will be to get Byakuya to side with me, he is probably looking for any chance to free her as it is, right?"

(P.O.V change) (Outside of Kukkaku's home) (Ichigo)

"There it is!" "Oh god, what awful design style" "Yes, this is definitely Kukakku's place". The Ryoka group were all looking dumbfounded at the architectural fail of a building before them, at least most of them were, Inoue was looking on adoringly at the building, appreciating every feature that she could. Ichigo was the first to recover, "All right guy's, let's go meet the owners!" "Yes, we can't afford to waste time" the talking cat announced, while striding towards the building. Ichigo however, was looking over the fields in the direction of Seireitei. **Just wait Rukia, I'm coming for you.**

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**Yea, I kinda went P.O.V crazy there, for the confused, I am designing a unique Zanpakuto here, people may complain its a god-moder due to the various abilities i'm gonna give it, but trust me, it isn't, it will bequite varied, and most definately unique, but all the mainstream Zan's will probably still prove more powerful in their own fields (Hyourinmaru for elemental control, Ryujin Jakka for pure power, so on so forth). Taiyou is currently going to be a Light based Elemental/Kido type, with aditional abilities added to it. Anyway, next chapter I am going to try and do a fight, not a death match, but a meaningful sparring match between Byakuya and Yoshirou (I am planning to tie some captains to him in a past sense, namely Byakuya (A freind from the past), Soi Fon (Guess who gave Soi Fon directions in controlling Kido for the Shunkou?), Kyoraku (lazy buddies), and Unohona (A teacher), also I am going to include a tiny fraction into Aizen, although as much as the other four captains, more like Yoshirou is going to be an unknown factor which Aizen did'nt expect to come along)**

**Sorry if anybody has been put off by my depiction of Hanatarou, I wanted to make him look rather nervous like he normally was at the start of the series.**

**As always please Review! Even just one and I will be happy**


	5. Chapter 5 Byakuya

**Well, this is the promised encounter with Byakuya, also my first try at a battle. As my charecter is a kido type, battles probably arent gonna be flashy in terms of fighting but hopefully this should be alright. Anyhow, on with the story!**

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**Wow, once again I have to admire just how dignified this Squad's barracks look; the Kuchiki's always did have expensive and refined tastes.** Yoshirou had just been granted access to the grounds by the surprised guards at the gate. "What was up with those guards? They looked at me like I had two heads when I asked them to call Byakuya for me, that and they never did, instead telling me to report to their Vice-Captain, some Abarai Renji or something like that" "Need I remind you that Byakuya is indeed the head of the Kuchiki family? He's not just some old friend of yours any more, he has status, and to them you were probably being incredibly rude regarding their captain." Taiyou chided him, as they walked across the grounds, trying to locate said missing Vice-Captain. "

Bah, being official must suck. More importantly, why did you want to come see him to? I would have thought the stress of being materialised was uncomfortable to you, you probably should return to your sword form" "No, I think I rather like being materialised like this, I get to see the scenery properly, makes a change from the area in your inner soul, even if the weather doesn't feel quite as nice" (Yoshirou's inner soul very much reflected a large open forest space, with it's Sakura and Japanese Maple tree's (1) accented by an ever shining sun that went across the sky) "And I think you've already noticed that we have both managed to get used to this materialisation" "Yeah, That surprised me, I always heard that the main trouble in Bankai training is that prolonged materialisation drains reiatsu, so training time is pretty limited." "I suppose this must be another side effect of being tied to your soul, what an odd shinigami you are" "Oh I'm the odd one? Say's the Zanpakuto wearing a Shihakshou!"

This bickering between the two individuals continued for a while, until Yoshirou found himself colliding with another Shinigami that had stood in his way. "You idiot, what do you think your doing walking over your Vice-Captain! Wake up before I punch you awake!" **Wow this dude isn't too forgiving is he?** "Sorry, but you really shouldn't have been standing in my way" "What was that! You… wait, I don't recognise you, who are you and what are you doing here!"

Yoshirou finally managed to get a good look at the aggressive man before him **Yikes that is some nasty addiction to tattoos he has there**. True to Yoshirou's observation, the mans forehead was covered with spiky patterned tattoo's just below a rather large amount of red hair. "Answer me, who are you and what is your business here!" "Ah I'm Yoshirou Kenshin, 3rd seat of the Kido Corps" Yoshirou announced, hoping this might placate the irate man before him. "Nice try fool, but such a squad doesn't exist, Ryoka!" **Ryoka? Uh oh!** Yoshirou thought as the man before him jumped back, clearing his Zanpakuto from its sheath. "I'm giving you one chance to surrender before I cut both of you down!" "Calm down there red-head, I'm here to meet with Byakuya! Not get in a fight with his Vice-Captain!"

"Enough with the lies! Howl, Zabimaru!" the man announced, his zanpakuto now changing form into its Shikai. **Oh crap, I don't need this! My powers are still sealed at the moment; I can't defend myself against a Vice-Captain!** Yoshirou thought, remembering that he had left his Soul Sealing Bands on, neglecting to take them off that morning. (The Soul Sealing Bands were a special set of tools given to him by Tessai to restrict his own Reiatsu, originally a training method; it had proved useful as of late in hiding his ever increasing power, but this was most definitely the time where having it on was a bad idea)

Luckily, just before the man attacked, a new presence appeared behind the man "What are you doing Renji? Releasing your Zanpakuto on my estate is banned" **Ah, so that guy is the Renji I was looking for! And if I'm not mistaken, that voice belongs too…** "K-Kuchiki-Taichou! I'm sorry to have disturbed you! I was just dealing with an intruder here!" **Wow that guy changes fast** Yoshirou thought to himself **one second madly angry, next second cowed like a whipped dog. **"An intruder?" With this Byakuya looked over in Yoshirou direction, although his face showed no sign of any emotion of seeing his old friend. "Who is the lady with you? I don't remember her among your old squad members" "Meh, that ones a long story" Byakuya made no reply to that "What is your business here?" "Hey c'mon Byakuya, I just got here, at least let me sit down somewhere before I start!"

"Kuchiki Taichou!" **Oh he's still here isn't he?** "I'm sorry but I don't understand, who is this man, and how dare he speak so informally towards you?" **Man, I'm half wishing I had the chance to beat this guy for how he's acting towards me. **"Hey pineapple, I'm sure I told you my name already, and I told you my business, so go and do some menial task somewhere, you're in our way." Why you-!" however, Renji didn't get a chance to finish "Renji, I am sure I had already asked you to attend to the recruits and remind them of the security changes" "Sorry Kuchiki-taichou, I will be on my way!" Renji cast one last angry glance at Yoshirou, before sealing and sheathing his sword, walking off in the opposite direction.

"Wow, that's one violent guy you got as your Vice-Captain" "Refrain from insulting my Vice-Captain, he was simply doing his duty, if not a bit violently" "Yeah, yeah I know, everybody is still rather tense about this whole Ryoka attack, I was already warned that I may meet some resistance if I wasn't careful" Byakuya nodded slightly at this "I would suggest that we perhaps continue this indoors, I would prefer that this business be concluded soon, I have much to do, the lady may remain in the gardens if she prefers" **Wow, what's up with Byakuya? Has he changed that much since we last met?** "Byakuya-san, I believe I would prefer to join you for this discussion" Taiyou responded, deliberately keeping a more polite tone. Once again Byakuya nodded slightly, before continuing towards the building, Yoshirou and Taiyou following him.

"Okay, first things first Byakuya, I'd best introduce Taiyou to you" All three of them were now sitting inside a small room within the Barracks. "Taiyou? That name is slightly familiar, but I remember it is Taiyoukousen, your Zanpakuto." "Oh good guess! I thought you wouldn't have a chance of recognising her! I shortened her name to Taiyou whenever I'm talking to her." "You do realise nicknaming your Zanpakuto reduces its power upon release? That is a rather foolish choice on your behalf." "I obviously don't call her by that when I release her, it's just that since we tend to converse a lot, its easier in normal conversation." Once again, Byakuya nodded slightly, accepting the weird relationship that Yoshirou was suggesting he had with his Zanpakuto without question.

Taiyou spoke up now "It is an honour to be able to speak to you face-to-face, I have often spoken with Yoshirou about you, he holds you in very high esteem compared to most of his superiors, although some of the stories I have heard seem unrealistic now I have met you face to face."** I suppose it would seem so, seeing him as he is now **Yoshirou thought while looking over Byakuya. All traces of his relaxed demeanour from his old days were gone; his casual smile was gone as well, replaced with a serious face that befitted nobility. He almost seemed like a different man altogether, it was taking all of Yoshirou's concentration to remember the man before him was his friend from all that time ago Man **time can change people** "I'm afraid most of his stories would be irrelevant to me now, I have changed according to the responsibilities I must take, Yoshirou however seems to still be the same." "What? Quick-witted, devilishly handsome and free as a bird?" Yoshirou asked with a smile. Byakuya however ignored the comment "There must be a reason why you have come to see me today, speak your business."

"Jeez fine, you probably know why I am here anyway, you always were rather perceptive." "I assume you are concerned with the matter of my sister then?" "Of course I am, I heard what has happened to her, and I figured that I might try and see about having her execution revoked, I mean she's being executed-." "Do not concern yourself with this, this is decided by the central 46, she will be executed as according to the law" **What the-** Yoshirou was at a loss for words, glancing across, he could see that Taiyou was similarly shocked by this comment. "Why are you saying that? Isn't this your sister we are talking about, I don't care what they are saying, I will back anything that is needed to see your sister freed-." "Your concern is noted, but this matter is no longer of my concern, she will be executed."

"…Byakuya this is your sister you are talking about! And even if it wasn't, her punishment isn't right for her crime! They are going to kill her, and your acting like you couldn't care less!" Byakuya, face still impassive, simply said "This is what the law has said, I shall follow the law, and if you choose to oppose it, I will oppose you with full force". **Byakuya, what have you become? This isn't the friend I remember! **Yoshirou was desperate now, he couldn't understand what it was that had changed Byakuya, but whatever it was, he didn't like it one bit at all. "…Byakuya, can you back the choice you have made?" "Yoshirou!" Taiyou was now standing; this atmosphere was enough to affect even her. "Calm down! This isn't something you have to do!" "No, it is, and if Byakuya has any respect for the friendship we once had, he will agree as well!"

"Yes, I will oppose you, Yoshirou" Byakuya said, face still impassive. "Fine then, we must decide this the same way as we used to, the one with the stronger muscle wins!" "Fine, but I shall not hold back" "Good, I wouldn't want you to!"

(Kuchiki Manor Grounds)

"Taiyou, I would ask that you sit out on this fight, I have to do this my way" Yoshirou said, now facing Byakuya across the grounds. "What are you saying you idiot? Byakuya was always the stronger out of you two; you can't fight him like this and expect to win without my help!" "Yes I will, the old Byakuya was the one who could always best me, this man before me is nothing but a shell of my friend that I once knew, he can't beat me like this" **Truth be told, he probably can, after all I'm not using Taiyou in this, he still has that Zanpakuto of his, I could probably handle it if he uses Shikai, but he could kill me if he goes Bankai **Yoshirou admitted inside** But this isn't a fight to win, this is a fight to break him. Either I will break him, or I will be defeated. "Can you hold onto these Taiyou?" **Yoshirou asked, as he drew up his sleeve and unclipped the five belts on his arm. Immediately he felt his reiatsu rush throughout his body. **God it's been years since I've gone full blast, half forgot what it was like. **Taiyou walked up and took the belts "Fine, but don't complain to me if you come back missing any limbs" Taiyou said as she returned to the sidelines, although she couldn't hide the concern from going into her voice.

**She's probably going to go mad at me later. **"Byakuya, you ready then?" Yoshirou shouted, drawing his Katana and taking his stance. Byakuya also took his stance, sword held before him. "Lets begin"** Right, I'll have to be careful, I still don't know quite how much Byakuya has improve- **while Yoshirou was considering his move, Byakuya had vanished from sight. Fast! Was the only thought that went through Yoshirou's mind as Byakuya reappeared behind him, quickly laying his sword across Yoshirou's neck. "Yield, I would prefer to end this quickly" "Not a chance Byakuya, take a look before you try declaring your victory!" Sure enough, where Byakuya had thought he had his sword across Yoshirou's neck, there was a blue shield stopping the blade. "Casting Kido without calling out the spell name? You have improved" "Heh, if something that simple can surprise you, you don't have a hope of beating me!" **That's what I say, but that was close, I would have already lost if it weren't for that spell, got to watch out for that speed of his.** "Bakudo no.09, Seki!" The shield blocking Byakuya's blade dispersed outwards, forcing Byakuya's sword up, taking advantage of this opening, Yoshirou slashed at Byakuya's torso, but once again the captain disappeared. Wary of a counter attack, Yoshirou watched Byakuya reappear back at his starting point.

"Retreating already? That's not the man I remember Byakuya! Lost your balls while I was away?" "Taunt me all you want Yoshirou, that's a sign of a nervous man" **Heh, seems he's not quite as easy to pull any more **(it only took an off comment about Yoruichi in the past to drive Byakuya into a rage). "Well, we aren't gonna get anywhere today if we keep using these kind of kiddie techniques" Yoshirou laughed "Show me whether you can still claim to be better than me.". Byakuya raised his arm, Yoshirou, guessing his intention, also raised his. "Hado no.33, Soukatsui" A wall of blue fire flew across the field, aimed straight at Yoshirou. **Yep I was right** "Hado no.32, Ōkasen!" A thin slice of yellow energy flew out, colliding with the blue wall and cutting straight through it, dispersing the fire, and flying straight at Byakuya. Or at least it had been, Byakuya had once again disappeared, and was now standing in Yoshirou's blind spot, a finger pointed at Yoshirou's shoulder "Hado no.04, Byakurai". The energy blasted out, firing straight through Yoshirou's shoulder. **Shit, I underestimated his speed again **Yoshirou thought as he saw his own blood pour from his shoulder. "Yoshirou! Concentrate on him, stop holding back!" Taiyou shouted from the building, concerned for her master and disturbed that he was already injured after barely starting. Yoshirou quickly placed his hand over his shoulder, pouring his reiatsu into the wound, sealing the blood flow from the hole.

"Stand down Yoshirou, you cannot hope to defeat me" Byakuya calmly said. "Not until I get something more from you than that damn, impassive face! Why in hell are you hiding behind that façade!" "This is no façade, I have already decided, nothing you say will change this" "Like hell!" Yoshirou shouted back, now pulling on his reiatsu reserves in preparation for his next attack. "Hado no. 63 **Raikōhō!" Now the entire field flashed yellow as the immense blast covered the entire field. Byakuya however, didn't even attempt to dodge the attack "Bakudo no 81. Danku." The blast was halted in its progression by a clear wall.** Danku? Wow he really has improved; I might be in trouble even if he doesn't use his Shikai. Still, that technique isn't perfect, I can feel it, he hasn't mastered it yet, I can break it! **Still firing his reiatsu into the Kido, Yoshirou started chanting**_ "Sprinkled on the bones of the beast! Sharp tower, red crystal, steel ring. Move and become the wind, stop and become the calm. The sound of warring spears fills the empty castle!" _Suddenly the blast increased in ferocity, and managed to break through the shield.

**Did I get him? **The dust quickly settled about Byakuya, however, Yoshirou could see the pink effect that announced Byakuya had released his shikai.** Heh would have been too easy if that worked. **"You announced the chant for the spell after you casted it, therefore increasing its power correct? You even managed to break down Danku with nothing but a level 63 Kido. Impressive." "Starting to get worried yet Byakuya?" "Hardly" "Damn it Byakuya, what is it going to take to break that damn infuriating placidness you have? Why can't you at least feel even in the slightest for your sister?" "I already told you, this discussion is meaningless, I will not change my views." **That's it, I'm gonna beat this infuriating idiot even if it takes everything I have!** Once again pulling on his reiatsu, he tried one more taunt **there's no way he won't retaliate to this one.** "Byakuya, are you going to remain this shell for ever? This fake form that you have taken? You've gotten faster, tougher and more knowledgeable than before, but I think that boy from 100 years is stronger than you are now! You were improving, you were getting better, but everything died after that last time we met, 50 years ago!"

Byakuya's face finally broke from its placid expression; there was now a rather dangerous look of fury upon his face. "You dare to bring up the past like this Yoshirou? I had thought you were a better man than that." **Yeah, your right, that is a low blow** Yoshirou thought to him self sadly **but I must find a way to break through this shell you have placed on yourself! **Once again, Yoshirou started chanting, but this time the words wrung with obvious force "_Limit of the thousands hands, respectful hands, unable to touch the darkness…" _as he chanted, the force he was summoning started taking a visible form, as light started collecting from all around him, focusing upon his arm. Byakuya recognised the chant, but was too furious to start worrying "I understand now, you want to face my full force, fine then, let this memory be engraved into your bones." He faced his sword downwards, dropping the sword as he announced "Bankai"

"Yoshirou no!" Taiyou once again shouted from the sidelines, now panic ringing strongly in her voice "You can't control that spell without my help, it could tear you apart!" **I know, but I have to do this!** "_The road that basks in light, the wind that ignited the embers, time that gathers when both are together, there is no need to be hesitant, obey my orders." _Across the battle fields, the multiple swords that were a part of Byakuya's Bankai broke apart "Senbonzakura Kageyoshi" Byakuya coldly announced. "_Light bullets, eight bodies, nine items, book of heaven, diseased treasure, great wheel, grey fortress tower." _**This is bad** Yoshirou thought through gritted teeth **I can feel the energy, it feels like its pulling me apart. **However, he sensed something in front of him "Taiyou, what are you doing!" "Stop this, your going to destroy yourself if you keep this up!" "No, I can handle this" "That's not what I meant Yoshirou, if you keep this up, your going to do something you regret, both of you are!" This she also shouted at Byakuya, once again Byakuya's face betrayed him, showing some surprise at her intervention. "You've proved your point, that's enough, just stop this!" Toshirou looked over at Byakuya, indeed he had done what he needed to; he had broken the façade open and got him to show his real conviction, his real emotions. "Your right, I'm sorry I worried you Taiyou" "Byakuya, this is over, I've done what I have aimed to do"

"What do you mean? You have done nothing to change my feelings over this, I will still follow the law" "My aim was to get you to show your real side to me, that damn passiveness was getting annoying" Yoshirou, however, now fell to his knee "Sorry Taiyou, seems you were right, I can't handle this force alone, can you help me?" "I will always help you" Taiyou replied, smiling before disappearing into light, once again forming over his katana and disappearing within. Quickly, Yoshirou felt the stress from the Kido he had prepared disappear as Taiyou manipulated the energy throughout his body, releasing it slowly through the katana as a glowing light. "Its been a long time since I saw that effect from your Zanpakuto" Byakuya said, having sealed his own Bankai. "Reminds me of the missions we used to do together" "Yeah, I'm sorry about what I said in my last taunt, it wasn't the kind of thing I should have brought up in a fight." Byakuya's passive face was once again showing. "I will accept your apology, pray we do not face each other again over this issue" "Don't worry, I've already done the first step, just remember what I said on that day 50 years ago" Byakuya once again looked at Yoshirou directly, who now had a big smile across his face "Only Devil's don't cry". Byakuya's eyes opened widely upon hearing him say that, but before he could reply, Yoshirou had vanished.

(P.O.V Change: Byakuya)

The wind swept across the empty courtyard now, barely any sign of the horrific test of wills that had just happened showing across the flattened earth. **Only Devil's don't cry… **it had been a long time since he heard Yoshirou last say that. "Renji, are you going to stop eavesdropping now?" The red-haired shinigami appeared from the building. "I beg your forgiveness Kuchiki-Taichou, I felt the increase in reiatsu from this area and had to find out the source, I did not mean to pry" "It doesn't matter, take that shihakshou from over there and dispose of it" "Huh?" Renji scanned the courtyard, sure enough there was a Shihakshou lying on the floor "How did that get there? I'm sorry captain, I will get rid of it, and deal with the person who left it there" Renji quickly picked up the Shihakshou and disappeared into the barracks. Byakuya walked back in his room's direction, but on a whim, went to the next room along instead. Inside there was the shrine to Hisana, his late wife. **Only Devil's don't cry…**

_**(50 years ago)**_

_**The rain was pouring strongly over the area where two men were, one standing, one kneeling. The weather was fitting for the people who stood there, on looking a lone grave. "Hisana huh? She was a beautiful woman, and pure hearted. This place will be all the colder for her passing" one of the men said, his face downcast as he looked upon the grave. He looked to his silent companion, who was now getting up, water cascading off of his robes. "Byakuya?" the first man asked as he looked at him, he wasn't sure but it looked like tears streaming down his face. "Yeah, I already cried my fill, but it isn't my tears that will help her know she's missed." "This is not tears, it's just the rain." The man named Byakuya said, although his voice was thick with repressed emotions. "To show my tears will be to show weakness." "Your wrong Byakuya" the first man told him calmly "Tears are a gift given to us, its proves your feelings, only Devil's don't cry". Upon hearing this, the second man shouted out a mournful cry before falling to his knees before the grave, tears indeed streaming down his face and falling on the earth of the grave before him.**_

(Present)

A lone tear fell from Byakuya's face, landing silently on the floor. **Damn you, Yoshirou Kenshin** Byakuya thought, trying to contain him self once again. **Damn you…**

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**Well there we have it, another chapter done! This one took a lot more work than the other four, I had no clue how to go about the battles (I was hoping to get a experianced hand to help me before this point, but I had no such luck). Yes, for those who are more observent, there is a rather strong reference to Devil May Cry hidden at the end, I meant nothing by it, I loved the way that term worked, so I thought i'd borrow it for this, sorry for making Byakuya go OOC, I am gonna end up doing that for most guys, after all I need some impact, and I tried to keep it as true as I could!**

**Once again, can anybody who us reading this PLEASE REVIEW IT! I know there are readers now, but I just want to hear some gods honest opinions about this. I am probably gonna give this story one more week, if nobody can give me any feedback, I will accept that this perhaps isn't what you guys want and gracefully withdraw from the fanfiction world.**


	6. Chapter 6 Unohana's hospital

**Newest chapter out now, as always, would like somebody to tell me how exactly I am doing, but oh well on with the story!**

**Update: Yays, first review, Thanks loads for the advice redwarrioroflight, following your advice, these documents will all be having a revamp, look forward for a (hopefully) easier to understand and more accurate story soon!**

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**Man what a day, and it's barely past the morning at that** Yoshirou thought as he trudged through the streets of the Seireitei .**Aww man, now I'm starting to feel hungry, wonder when I'll be able to get some food.**

_**I don't believe you Yoshirou, if it weren't for the fact we share this body, I would say we were totally different people, you just got out of a near death fight with a captain-class opponent and all you can think about is food?**_

**Hey I'm not one to whinge about what's been and done; I did what I had to do. Besides, this is nothing compared to our old squabbles, the loser used to only get home if the winner carried him, once we both had to wait for a day before the squad 4 team found us. I barely got off with a scrape this time**

_**A scrape? Don't act stupid, this is a rather bad wound you have here, the only reason why you're not bleeding and in a whole lot of pain is because I'm still sealing the wound with your reiatsu, since you would obviously forget after the fight.**_

**And for that I thank you, speaking of reiatsu, did I remember to pick up those Soul Sealing Bands?**

_**No you didn't, luckily I was carrying them**_

**Really?** Yoshirou glanced down at his zanpakuto, sure enough wrapped around the hilt were a set of ornately coloured bands. **Wait a second, how did you do that? No wait, I don't want to know, that would probably confuse me further. **Quickly unclipping the belts from the zanpakuto hilt, Yoshirou once again rolled up his sleeve.

_**Idiot, what do you think you're doing? If you seal your reiatsu again, this wounds going to start pouring blood everywhere.**_

**Oops your right **Yoshirou thought, severely embarrassed that he had missed such an obvious thing, instead quickly stowing the bands inside his Shihakshou.** Hey, why am I sensing a familiar reiatsu approaching? Nobody should be aware of where I am.**

_**I don't know, but a warning, I don't think the owner is very happy, judging the way it's fluctuating. Better look sharp.**_

No sooner than Yoshirou had looked up did he see a shinigami literally fly around the corner at the cross section, charging in his direction and skidding to a stop before him. "Kira?" Yoshirou exclaimed, surprised to see his subordinate "I didn't know I gave you any task that involved you charging around Seireitei". "Taichou! What's happened? Who where you fighting? Have the Ryoka managed to break into Seireitei? Are you okay Taichou? You're not hurt are you?" Kira rushed out a whole tirade of questions at Yoshirou "Whoa, whoa calm down! Slow down and stop rushing things" Kira stopped talking, trying to get her breath back instead.

**You were wrong Taiyou, seems she's panicking rather than being upset. **

_**Idiot, it's obvious she's concerned about you, she's not panicking, she's worried. Anyway, seems she's got her breath back now.**_

"I felt a sudden increase in your reiatsu, and I assumed that somebody had to be attacking you from that, I came over to see if I could help you" "Hahaha, Sorry Kira,I just has something that I had to deal with, nothing major like a Ryoka attack or anything." Kira calmed down upon hearing Yoshirou's explanation, but still wasn't entirely satisfied with the explanation. "But what could have happened that you needed to let loose that much force?" "Meh, a little argument with Byakuya, nothing special" "Byakuya? You mean Kuchiki-Taichou! Why were you fighting a captain?" **Oh boy, there's no way I could explain the truth about what we were arguing over, think, think, a decent enough excuse… **However, none came to Yoshirou, so he decided to go with his usual trick "We were at a difference of opinion as to whether Soi Fon really has any breasts or not"

"…" **Oops, that one didn't work.**

_**Idiot.**_

However, Kira seemed to realise that she wasn't going to get a straight answer no matter how hard she pushed, so she also reverted to normal "So, who won then?". Yoshirou, both surprised and relieved that she had accepted the excuse, answered "It was a close match, but at the end he accepted that my view was right; she does indeed have breasts, its just that she binds them to keep them out of the way while using Hakuda (1)" "Pervert" "The one and only, but you have to admit I probably am right." "I suppose so- WHAT ON EARTH IS THAT!" Kira suddenly exclaimed, having looked at Yoshirou and spotted the large hole in his Shihakshou, and the hole in his shoulder through that. "This? Err... war trophy?" "Taichou, we have to get you to squad 4 to get that healed!" "What, this little thing? I can heal this myself, no worries, now c'mon, I need to find something to eat" "No we will not "C'mon"" Kira said, once again literally dragging him along the street. "We are going to get that healed now!"

(Squad 4 Hospital)

Yoshirou was now recalling the amount of times he had waited inside this room during the old times, waiting to be treated after his all-too-common fights with Byakuya. **Maybe I'm wrong, things haven't changed that much. I still don't see why I couldn't get treated at the Kuchiki grounds in the past, why did that old dude Ginrei keep kicking me out? **(Indeed, Ginrei used to get very angry whenever his grandson came home with numerous cuts and bruises on him, even if Yoshirou was in a matching condition, there would be no mercy from the old man, Yoshirou would be promptly removed from the Kuchiki manor grounds, forced to limp his way to the Squad 4 hospital instead. Still never stopped him from coming by the next day to see Byakuya)

Interrupting his train of thoughts, a bunch of brutish Squad 11 members were causing trouble for the nearby nurse, who was desperately struggling to put distance between herself and their groping hands. Kira, who also didn't seem to approve of this, marched over and started shouting at the men in question. However, Yoshirou could see the glint in their eyes. **Crap, their going to go for her next, what a troublesome subordinate I have! Taiyou, give us a hand here. **

_**Can't you sort it a different way?**_

**Yes, but I don't want to**

_**(Female sigh) Okay then, concentrate it on the idiot's right?**_

Taiyou started focusing Yoshirou's power, funnelling it into a particular direction, after she confirmed that she had focused the reiatsu, Yoshirou started pulling on his reserves. Nearly instantly all five men from the Squad started sweating, having picked up on the immense crushing reiatsu that was raining down all around them. Kira, who recognised what was happening, quickly returned to her seat, a triumphant smile on her face. Suddenly the men collapsed, the immense pressure of Yoshirou's focused reiatsu proving too much to withstand. This drew surprised looks from the other patients awaiting treatment; they had been completely unaffected by Yoshirou's reiatsu since Taiyou was channelling the Reiatsu directly at the Squad 11 members. Smirking at the results from his sudden attack upon the men, Yoshirou went to sit down, only to feel a hand rest lightly on his shoulder. "Oh, what has happened here?" **Shit.** Yoshirou was now sweating perhaps even more than the men had been from his assault.

Sure enough, his senses had proved true, standing behind him; hand resting lightly on his shoulder was a lady in a captain Haori. "U-Unohana-san, err I think the men over there just collapsed from whatever was afflicting them." "Is that so, Yoshirou-kun? There couldn't possibly be any connection between their collapse and that interesting ability of your Zanpakuto is there? I think I would like to talk to you further on this incident, would you mind coming with me?" **Shit, shit, shit.**

_**I told you to deal with this a different way**_

**Please stop Taiyou, I don't know if I'm about to faint or not, I need to concentrate on keeping myself conscious.**

_**This should prove interesting then**_

"Kira, you coming with me or staying here?"Yoshirou was practically pleading with her to follow him, he was almost panicking at whatever the Squad 4 Captain has in mind for him. Kira gave him a loaded look that said _you're going to owe me later _"Sure, I'm coming along Taichou!" "Oh, you're a Taichou now? I wasn't aware you had been given the seat" "Sorry Unohana-san, it's her favourite name for me" "Really? Well, we shouldn't dally here; let's go to my office okay? Perhaps I can have a look at that wound while we are there"

(Unohana's office)

"Now, Yoshirou-kun, perhaps you could perhaps explain what you were doing causing trouble for the other patients?" "Sorry Unohana-san, the men who were there were causing trouble for one of your staff members, although Kira had gone to try and sort the situation, I was a bit worried about the risk of my subordinate being… mistreated, so I dealt with the men in a appropriate fashion" Oh? Well I must thank you Kira for trying to protect one of my staff members, but Yoshirou, dealing with those men in that fashion was highly inappropriate, regardless of your intentions being good in general" **Oh god, she's gonna kill me.** "However, if I see it that you were protecting your precious subordinate, then I can overlook what has happened. After all, what man wouldn't want to protect such an attractive young lady?" **Oh you are cruel Unohana** Yoshirou thought, his face reddening despite all attempts to control it. **You're going to kill me in such in indirect manner?**

"Anyway Unohana-san, I'm sorry to trouble you, but I have a particularly nasty wound for you to heal" "Okay then, if you don't mind please remove the top half of your shihakshou" Yoshirou, without any inhibitions, quickly pulled open his uniform and stripped to his waist. Kira gasped at the sudden motion, both from embarrassment of staring at her superior's well muscled chest and in shock from seeing the hole that lingered on his shoulder. "Oh, how did you manage to gain this kind of wound?" Unohana enquired. **No point lying to her, she probably recognises the hole shape.** "Byakuya shot me with a no.04 Hado" "Ah yes, I recognise his reiatsu lingering in the wound. What were you and Byakuya arguing over again? I doubt Byakuya still has the mentality needed to argue over whether Yoruichi's breasts are natural or not as the last argument that brought you here was, if I remember correctly. Was it not a tie that day?" **Damn woman has a sharp memory, I was right; she does intend to kill me through embarrassment**. Yoshirou thought as he watched Kira's face go even redder than it already was, although whether it was embarrassment or anger that fuelled this he wasn't sure.

"No matter, the more pressing question is why you couldn't heal this yourself?" Unohana asked, as she pressed her hands to the wounds, a green aura now surrounding her hands. "I could have, but Kira was insistent I come here." "Oh of course, you would never refuse the advice of this young lady, would you?" Unohana said kindly. **How can she talk so kindly, yet sting so nastily?** Yoshirou thought, now unable to look at his subordinate directly, although he didn't notice that the same could be said for Kira as well. Unohana, noticing this, laughed softly to herself, feeling as though she was watching the reactions from a teenager's confession. "There you go, that's the first part of the healing done, the final part is simply resting until your body removes the leftover reiatsu from Byakuya from the wound. We are lucky that your reiatsu is more than sufficient to heal this kind of wound, the healing time was a lot shorter than normal, and the wound shouldn't impediment you for more than a day. You will be back to your usual self by tomorrow." Yoshirou tested his arm, flexing it back and forth. Satisfied with the result, he quickly put his Shihakshou back on. He also took the bands from his uniform and placed them on his arm, sealing his reiatsu once again. "Thank's Unohana-san, I…" Yoshirou was suddenly cut off by a small butterfly floating through the window. **No make that two** Yoshirou thought as a second one flew in after it, one floated over to Unohana landing lightly on her fingertip, the other perched itself on Yoshirou's shoulder.

"This is an important message to 3rd Seat Yoshirou Kenshin. A Captains meeting is to be held, and your presence is required at the meeting. You are to present yourself at the Squad 1 barracks. You are also required to bring your prospective Vice-Captain with you" Yoshirou more felt the message than heard it. **That's odd, normally the message is spoken out loud, must be something specific to important information. Well, must be pretty high confidentiality if it's referring to a -prospective Vice-Captain-**_**.**_Unohana's message also seemed to be finished, as both butterflies lazily departed through the window. "I am sorry Yoshirou-kun, but I must cut our discussion short, I am required to go out for a meeting at Squad 1" "Well that's odd, so am I" upon hearing this, Unohona's eyes widened in surprise. "But the meeting is a Captains meeting, why would you be requested to come?" "I'm not the only one, I've been told to bring a subordinate with me, Kira, you coming along?" Kira started with surprise "M-me? Are you sure?" "Yep, now c'mon or we're going to be late!" Unohona was still on looking with shock, her message had revealed that the meeting was for Captains and it was to deal with the problems caused by the 3rd Squad Captain, she couldn't fathom why Yoshirou, a 3rd seat from an almost forgotten squad would be summoned, unless…

"Unohona-san, are you coming?" Snapped from her thoughts, Unohana smiled at Yoshirou and walked out of the room. Along the way she stopped a young woman along the way. **Wow she's tall** Yoshirou thought **almost as tall as me** (Yoshirou was rather tall among shinigami, at 6'4 he was even taller than Kyouraku, if only by an inch). The girl in question seemed to have noticed him, and Yoshirou was highly suspicious that the thoughts of meeting a taller person than herself was probably on her mind. "Hello Isane, I'm afraid I am going to be leaving the barracks for a while, could you please make sure that there are no more incidents with those Squad 11 members" "Don't worry Unohona-taichou, whatever knocked them out seems to be working more effectively than our tranquilisers, they aren't going to wake up for a while yet, we will have them healed before they awaken again, then they can leave without causing problems" "See, I did good by knocking them out!" Yoshirou added. This got a surprised look from Isane. "You knocked them out? But there's no new injury marks on them, how did you do it?"

"Isane, I'm sorry but we really do have to go, I will be taking this boy with me before he does anything else to the other patients here." Unohana said, before once again placing her hand on her charge's shoulder and steering him towards the exit. "I'll tell you if I come back from this alive!" Yoshirou shouted back, before quickly exiting the hospital.

(Squad 1 Barracks)

**So here we are** Yoshirou thought, as he approached the door beside Unohana and Kira. **If Unohana-san was't here, I would have probably chickened out, the tension here is massive. **Yoshirou knew that beyond these doors, the strongest shinigami of Soul Society were assembled, probably waiting on both him and Unohana's arrival. "Well, shall we go Yoshirou-kun? Kira-san?" "Yeah, but I blame you if somebody kills me in there" Yoshirou replied, Kira was still too scared to say anything but follow Yoshirou. Unohana laughed softly once again, before opening the doors. Immediately Yoshirou could see the people who were present, on the left side were Soi Fon, Byakuya, Shunsui, and two other captains Yoshirou didn't know. On the left stood Aizen, Komamura, Tosen and the massive man that Yoshirou had seen Yamamoto duel. Speaking of the Sou-Taichou, he was at the back, in the direct middle of the room. "Welcome Captain of the 4th Division, Unohana Retsu, 3rd Seat of the Kido Corps Yoshirou Kensin, and 12th Seat of the Kido Corps Kira Hazuki. Kira Hazuki, your presence is no longer needed here, you may leave." Kira stiffened at the shock of such a dismissal. "Kira Hazuki, you are dismissed because your at risk within this room, all people within this room have Captain Class Reiatsu, and I can see from looking at you, you are barely able to stand as it is. Leave, we do not have the time to accommodate your needs, your presence was only needed for a minute anyway." Kira, now relieved that she wasn't being insulted, muttered some excuses and quickly left the room.

"What's this Old man? You're saying this pipsqueak from the wimpy Kido Corps has Captain Class Reiatsu? I'll determine that for everyone!" The massive man walked up to Yoshirou, his reiatsu leaking out and forcing Yoshirou down. **What is this? This is insane! He's crushing me merely with his presence?** Yoshirou thought, doing his best not to black out from the force raining down on him.

_**Yoshirou, you're still wearing your sealing bands! Remove them before you pass out you fool!**_

**Ah, that explains it**. Yoshirou struggled with all of his strength to reach his arm up, and unclip the first band. Immediately the pressure lessened, enough for him to quickly reach up and unclip the remaining four bands. With all the bands removed, he could fully summon his powers, and he easily stood back straight, cracking his neck tendons and looking the imposing man straight in his eyes, finishing with a smirk that spoke _This much reiatsu is nothing to me. _"Ho, for the fact that most of my power is restrained, that's not bad! Those bands you pulled off, they are a seal right? Seems you wimpy Kido boys do take some lessons from working hard, instead of all that crap about calm and peaceful thoughts. You got any spare of those? My seal is being a pain in the ass, and those look like their stronger than mine" This got an outrageous cry from the man with the paint on his face. "That is impossible, there is no technology that surpasses what I can make, let me see those, now I tell you!" "Sure, here's one of them" Yoshirou replied, throwing one in the mans direction. However, before the clown could catch it, the massive man had disappeared, catching the thrown item before it could reach him.

"What the fuck? This thing isn't living! My seal's a fucking monster on my eye, and this guy owns a seal that not only works better, but doesn't move or squeal when you use it! What the fuck!" **Wow, that guy is fast as well! What the hell is with these guys and their speed?** Yoshirou thought, amazed that a man who was so well built could move his legs that well. The clown shouted out "Kenpachi you barbarian, give me that now!" "Psh, whatever clown" the man named Kenpachi said, throwing the band to the clown. **Kenpachi? The man who will never fall, no matter how many times he is cut? I see, that is one impressive guy. **"My name is Mayuri, not clown, although scum like you may not call me anything, for I have no interest in you!" the clown newly named Mayuri spat back at Kenpachi, before looking down at the band in his hand. However, unlike what Yoshirou expected, Mayuri froze upon looking at the band, surprise etched on his face. "I see, I see…" he repeated quietly multiple times. "Truly interesting, boy, I would talk with you another time regarding this artefact, and its origins. For now, you may take it back" **What, are the bands something that important?** Yoshirou thought as he catched the returning band. "Hey kid! Next time you got free time, you get your ass down the Squad 11 Barracks, you look like you got some potential in a fight! You could have some fun with my 3rd seat!" "I'll think about it, Kenpachi"

"Yoshirou-kun! What a surprise to see you here of all places! What have you gotten yourself into this time?" Shunsui called from across the room. "Um, Kyoraku are we actually allowed to just chat like this? I mean we are in a meeting and all." "It's all right, the meeting hasn't actually started, we still have one man missing, Gin Ichimaru" "Gin, that little kid that used to tag around with Aizen? He's a captain now, wow thing's change when I don't look around much." "Yeah I know what you mean, there have been so many changes in so little time, you and I need to have a sit down sometime, have a drink and catch up on old times." "You sure about that? I heard your new Vice-Captain is even more strict than Lisa" "Oh Nanao-chan, how she hurts me!" Kyoraku said in a sing-song voice. "Oh my Beautiful Nanao-chan" "I don't doubt that, you seem to have good luck with getting hot Vice-Captains, that Lisa was a stunner" "Oh, didn't you know? Die hard lesbian." "Seriously? I swear you used to say otherwise, judging from her treatment of you" "Ah but that was before I knew she was a lesbian!" **Ah Kyoraku, I could always have a fun chat with him.** Yoshirou could feel a person staring at his back now, looking around, he met the ice blue gaze of a young boy behind him. "Hey Kyouraku, who is that?" "Ah, that would be Hitsugaya-kun, Toushiro Hitsugaya to be exact."

Turning from Kyoraku, Youshirou walked over to Hitsugaya, extending his hand. "Pleasure to meet you, Hitsugaya." Cocking an eyebrow at the lack of a title, the boy none the less raised his arm to shake Yoshirous hand. Yoshirou was surprised at the handshake, just like the boys eyes, his hand was ice cold as well. "That's Hitsugaya-Taichou to you, no offense meant; everybody below captain class calls me by that title, or at least everybody should." "Ah okay, I got it." "What exactly is your purpose here today? I'm not sure as to why a 3rd seat would need to be present in a captains meeting. This is already a security breach technically, information passed in here is not meant for the lower seats, it keeps the peace." **Wow, frosty guy, everything about him feels cold.** Casting his glance about the room, he spotted Soi Fon standing to attention nearby the Sou-Taichou. Yoshirou considered going to talk to her, but decided against it; after all she was not one for friendly banter. Instead, he walked over to Aizen, who was already smiling in greeting. "Aizen! How are you doing?" "Oh I'm fine, always am, it's good to see you Yoshirou-kun, how has your squad been doing?" "Oh it's been good, everybody is working hard as usual, although you should see my 12th seat! I really underestimated her potential, she's already using 50th level Hado, her Bakudo still sucks as ever though" "Ah you mean that lady who came in with you? She seems like a nice girl, you think she has good potential? Perhaps I could arrange that she gets some instruction from my Vice-Captain? She is quite skilled in Kido herself, although not perhaps to your level." "Really? That would be perfect Aizen! I don't really have the time to personally teach her, that would be a brilliant favour to me." Once again, Aizen smiled softly. **Really, that guy feels like the father you always wanted**. "Well Aizen, thanks again, anyway, I just noticed Ukitake is missing, do you know where he is?" "I'm afraid not, perhaps Kyoraku would know? Anyway this has been a nice chat, I'd like to be able to see you again some time, why don't you come by my Squad some time?" "Maybe if I have the time Aizen."

Once again, turning to ask Kyoraku that question, there was suddenly a load noise form the opposite side of the room. The doors had opened and in strode a silver haired man, a big smile on his face. **Wow that's one creepy smile he's got hasn't changed at all over the years, just got bigger**. Upon Gin's entrance, the Sou-Taichou announced "…Everyones here? Alright then, we shall now begin this meeting!"

* * *

**God I had no clue as to how to do Aizen there, trying to keep a placid and freindly tone, dunno if it worked. I know I didn't introduce all the captains here, but Yoshirou doesnt know the newer ones, aside from Soi Fon (He knew her through Yoruichi). I do indeed have a reason as to why Yoshirou is in a captains meeting, the clue was in the need for the future VC to come along lol. You can see why next time, also you will find out just who is going to oppose the main guy (I'm gonna construct a captain vote off for him lol, I already have chosen where most of the guys will stand, i'm just unsure as to Komamura and Hitsugaya)**

**Oh, one more note, the new ability that Taiyou has shown us is the ability to channel Yoshirou's reiatsu at will, it was hinted in the last chapter when she dispelled the collected Kido energy, but here its confirmed since she can localise and focus his reiatsu preassure (he can focus it far above normal density, even enough to slow down a captain-rank foe, alike to how Renji was slowed by Ichigo, its why he can easily overdo Kenpachi, its simply concentrated about him to negate the effects, unlike Kenpachi who just blows his out everywhere)**

**Anyway as always please, please review, even just the one will be enough to keep me going for now lol.**

**UPDATE: I forgot to add this, stupid me**

**(1) Hakuda: One of the Four forms of Shinigami Combat, as described by Byakuya. Hakuda is the art of Close Range Combat i.e Hand to Hand fighting, of which Soi Fon is prominently skilled in.**


	7. Chapter 7 The Captains Meeting

**Wow, the first time since the start of this story that a chapter hasn't been longer than the previous one 0.0. Also first time I haven't opened the chapter with a thought comment from Yoshirou. Still, about 4000 words a chapter is pretty fair by this point, had a lot of fun writing this one, can't thank redwarrioroflight enough for that useful advice, and I have been putting it to use! Anyhow, your not here to listen to this blab, so go ahead and read the chapter!**

* * *

"Now, the first matter of concern is regarding the last meeting that we had. You all acted rather inappropriate in that meeting, after the suggestion was made to abolish the Kido Corps, many of you acted out of order. If we have a repeat of this event today, there will be severe punishments among the offenders, most prominently, if you can't keep a civil tongue in your head Kenpachi, then you will be removed from here by force."-Yamamoto announced, glaring mostly at Kenpachi, who just yawned out of boredom. "As I was saying, the first matter is concerning the abolishment of the Kido Corps, as you can see; today we have present the current head of the Kido Corps, 3rd seat Yoshirou Kenshin." At this announcement, many heads turned to watch Yoshirou. Yoshirou did the best he could to maintain a passive expression, but he could feel he was starting to sweat from the pressure about him. "As there is no Captain for the Kido Corps he is responsible for all leadership of his squad as acting leader. Now, in our last meeting, there was a suggestion that the current Squad be abolished. In order to maintain relationships, I shall not announce who made this suggestion; suffice to say it was made in personal secrecy." At this, Kenpachi was heard to mutter something that sounded like "Personal secrecy my ass, they were just scared of getting butchered" **Well that removes Kenpachi from the suspicious **Yoshirou thought, surprised to think that the headstrong leader of the all melee type squad 11 had not been the one to elect for abolishment. **Anyway why is Yamamoto bringing this up? I thought he was going to wait until I achieved Bankai…**

"Regardless of whom it was, the suggestion was made, and more than three captains supported the argument, so it would normally be passed. However, today I am suggesting an alternative route. The original argument had been that lack of communication made the Kido Corps a risk; however it is possible to promote a new Captain as leader of the Kido Corps. This Captain will be directly integrated into the Gotei 13, and all meetings will be made with this new Captain in attendance. This will remove the risk of misinformation. Now, regarding who will become the new Captain, I am afraid there is only one potential candidate, which would be young Yoshirou here. As you have already seen, he has one of the three requirements needed already: Captain Class reiatsu. As to the second requirement, he has yet to attain Bankai, but he has already reached the level of materialisation, and will most likely attain Bankai within the year. As far as I can see, that is satisfactory. Now the final requirement is the support of three independent captains. Normally, this would mean testing by this method, but due to the pressure of the Ryoka, I would prefer to solve this now." **Wow, sly move** Yoshirou thought. **You're using the Ryoka as an excuse to skip testing?**

"However, this does not mean that we can remove this requirement, support is needed for Yoshirou to achieve Captain Rank. Now we are going to vote on this matter; Will Yoshirou Kenshin be worthy of the Rank of Captain? Whichever side has the majority will be the policy that we follow, either he shall become a Captain, or the Kido Corps will be removed" **No!** Yoshirou thought. **That's far too risky, I don't even know most of these people, how can I get their approval?** "Now, each captain must state their reasons for their choice validly. Also, no Captain may affect another Captains vote. Now, I shall vote first. My choice is to support Yoshirou Kenshin. In the face of the current situation, we need unity among our squads; the removal of the Kido Corps will only harm our cause. Now, each Captain may say their choice in turn."

There was a silence in the room as each Captain considered his or her response.** My best chance is to get the approval of the oldest Captains **Yoshirou concluded internally. **If I have them on my side, the others will probably follow suit.** "If I may Sou-Taichou, I wish to make my vote"-Aizen announced. **Good, Aizen knows me, he will most likely choose to side with me.** "I'm sorry Yoshirou, but I still don't think you are quite ready for the responsibility of being a Captain" **…What!** "I feel that you are still too young, still too unknowing of what being a Captain means. I think given time, you may indeed prove to be worthy of the Rank, but you will have to take it from a different squad, your not ready to lead the Kido Corps, I'm sorry" Aizen concluded with a small, sad smile. **Damn, the first one to reply says negatively** Yoshirou thought bitterly. **This could easily become a landslide-**

"I will also voice my disapproval of this. He is indeed too young; he cannot know what justice means, a man in command who does not know justice is merely a fool. Justice is what drives us to make the right choices, without, he is not worthy to become a Captain"-said Tosen quietly, not once raising his voice loudly, despite the powerful condemnations within his speech. **Shit, two down! This is going horribly!**

"Just as Tosen said, he knows not what it is to be responsible. He has not faced a defeat before, or been forced to make a choice where no matter what, his men will die. I do not believe that when the time comes, he will be able to make the right choice. For that, I shall also say no." –Komamura stated. **Fuck, this couldn't go any worse! At this rate, the Kido Corps may really get disbanded!** It was now taking all of his concentration to keep calm in the face of this situation; he had already bitten his lip so hard that blood was flowing into his mouth. **No, this can't be happening! I can't let this happen! I-**

_Calm down Yoshirou, don't worry about their choices, they were sound_

**But Taiyou, they-!**

_Calm! You forget, you already have the vote of the Sou-Taichou, and don't despair yet, there are still many who are willing to support you_

**But-!**

"I shall approve of his promotion" a quiet, yet authoritive voice called out. Snapped back to reality, Yoshirou looked forward for the voice that had called out. "I shall support the decision to promote Yoshirou Kenshin as the captain of the Kido Corps." Byakuya repeated quietly. **Byakuya…** "Oh Byakuya, couldn't that be considered just supporting your friend?" -Kyoraku inquired, interested as to what the man would say to defend himself. "It is not. I shall never do something as callous as mix relations with matters of urgency. No, I believe that Yoshirou shows all of the qualities to be a Captain, unlike what Komamura has said, I have seen first hand the decisions that Yoshirou has made under duress in the field. Despite his immaturity, he has always made the safety of his comrades his main priority, even putting himself on the front lines to both protect and ensure the success of a mission. He is indeed young, and foolhardy, but I believe that this is not a quality to be condemned, rather, we should wait for the time that he goes beyond this, and becomes the man who shall stand stronger than all others. For that reason, I shall support him"-Byakuya finished.

"Well said, well said!" Kyoraku said, surprising everybody with some enthusiastic clapping. "I was thinking of a way I could support him, but you have pretty much brought them all up in one swoop! What a surprising man you are Byakuya! Unfortunately, I no longer have any excuses to support him, but for the sake that he can indeed hold his drink, I support Yoshirou! I would also like to add that, despite being unable to attend, I am fully sure that Ukitake would also support this lad!"

"Oh well that sounds like a well planned argument Kyoraku"-Soi Fon said sarcastically. "Also, you don't have the right to vote on Ukitake's behalf, he must vote himself." "Ouch, the hornet stings violently again! Well, Soi Fon, I would like to see you do better!" **Oh man, judging from that, it's going to be a no…** "I will also support Yoshirou Kenshin's promotion**"…huh?** "I have also seen Yoshirou's prowess, and therefore stand behind the decision to promote him" "Oh and my argument was awful, I wonder what kind of prowess you have seen of him? Maybe a different kind than us mere men?"-Kyoraku insinuated at Soi Fon. "I would not insinuate that Kyoraku, after all you are most obviously gay, if I saw such prowess, then undoubtedly you have as well."-Soi Fon calmly responded, not rising to the obvious bait "I am not! It is simply a personal preference to wear pink!"-Kyoraku replied quickly, faking offense at the insult. Unlike earlier, it was now taking all of Yoshirou's concentration not to laugh.

"Seriously, you are all acting like children, what a waste of time! I will not agree to this promotion, the boy is of no interest whatsoever, he holds a rather unique artefact, but that is all! Nothing of worth to make him a Captain!"-Mayuri hissed out. "What? That little band is unique?"-Kenpachi said, now rather annoyed. "Yes you idiot, and it is bound to him, he is the only one who can make use of them now!" **Really? I thought these things were just a training implement, just what exactly did Tessai give me? **Yoshirou pondered, idly poking the bands in his hands. "Fuck! And I had my hopes up that I could get a better seal than this damn thing! Bah, what's the point of having a damn wimpy squad like them anyway? Even if the kid here is good, the rest of them are all gonna be weak pussies, I mean you saw that girl from earlier nearly collapsed upon coming in here! I say we abolish the Kido wimps and be done with it!"

"On the contrary, Kenpachi, without the help from the Kido users, your battle loving squad would have been annihilated long ago. Kido is the basics behind healing magic after all, and without healers there is no-one to support the wounded. Yoshirou has already been instructed with some of my own techniques, and as things stand, he is probably a more worthy asset on the battlefield than me. He can be of great use to Soul Society, and it would be unwise to not promote him. As such, I will also stand behind him"-Unohana announced, giving one of her oddly scary smiles in Kenpachi's direction who, much to his credit, shrugged it off.

**Damn,** Yoshirou thought, **only two people left, since Ukitake isn't present. The votes are at five on both sides, I have to either get both of them, or one of them. If it's a tie, then it will have to wait until Ukitake is better, and as Kyoraku said, Ukitake will most likely support me. **"My turn then, I'm gonna say nope to his promotion" Gin declared, his rather creepy smile not moving an inch. "And your reason is?"-Yamamoto asked "he's jus' no good". This got him some odd looks from everyone.** Is he in trouble already or something, that their giving him those glares? Scrap that, I'm in trouble! If I don't get this last vote its over!**

All attention now turned to the diminutive figure in the room. Hitsugaya however, only had eyes for Yoshirou. Yoshirou did the best he could to hold the stare of the young boy, but it felt impossible. Thos cold blue eyes seemed to pierce right through his own. After a minute of this tense competition between the two, Hitsugaya finally started speaking. "I don't know you Yoshirou, I don't know what you're capable of, and I don't know what you will do with this rank, there's simply too much I don't know about you. Normally I would never support a person upon which I know so little. However, your eyes don't lie; you are indeed a person I think I can trust, as such, I shall also stand behind you. Yoshirou, I support the decision to make you into a Captain" **So, it is a tie after all **Yoshirou realised. **This meeting didn't get us anywhere, it's just going to be delayed. Still, I suppose I know now who I will be able to turn to for support in the future, I suppose there really isn't much surprise on how it went thinking on it. Most of the captains who voted for me, know me, and most of the captains who voted against me didn't. The only real surprises were Hitsugaya and Aizen, I never expected Aizen to turn against me.**

_Did you not listen to him? He didn't turn against you, he just doesn't seem to think you are quite ready yet, he does seem to have faith in your abilities, but in all honesty, I could agree with him. Perhaps pushing this Captain promotion onto you is a bit too early; after all you are going to practically be the third youngest Shinigami ever promoted to Captain Rank, behind Gin and Hitsugaya._

**It's not about whether I am ready or not, I must be ready or I'm going to lose my Squad, and I can't let that happen, not after Tessai's last orders.**

_Maybe so, but don't you think you are taking this responsibility a bit too far? I don't think he planned for the chance that he would be exiled while you were looking after the squad._

**Maybe, but I swore that I would Hold down the fort until his business was finished, I'm not about to back down now because things are getting bad, until he returns, I will do everything to ensure my squad survives.**

_(Feminine laugh) Oh listen to you! Even now you are already accepting your task as his successor, "My Squad?" That doesn't sound like a man who expects his leaders return! Still, if you are truly this resolute, I will follow you as well, my Aruji._

"**Master?" Heh since when were you docile enough to call me that? Don't do it again, it creeps me out hearing you say it, just keep the name, its bad enough everyone's going to start calling me Taichou soon, don't you start bowing your head too!**

_I suppose not, after all you are yet to force me to your will, don't forget your last requirement is to complete your Bankai, I shall not give my approval for that so easily._

"Yoshirou Kenshin, we have waited long enough!"-Yamamoto growled at said man, whom he had gotten tired waiting for. **Whoops, I keep forgetting he also knows that ability of ours.** "My apologies, Sou-Taichou, it was an important matter that I had to discuss". This earned some strange looks from everybody, who were all confused as to why they had just waited so long for the Sou-Taichou to speak. All but Kyoraku, who had quickly perceived the change in Yoshirou during their wait. "Nice eyes you had there Yoshirou!" he called across, earning him a puzzled look from Yoshirou and the other Captain's.

"Enough! The decision has been made to delay this matter until the opinion of Ukitake Jūshirō may be heard on this matter. Now that this has been decided, your presence in this room is no longer needed, Yoshirou Kenshin. However, it is up to you whether you wish to leave or not. If you choose to stay, your opinion will not be heard in the upcoming discussions, since for now you do not hold the rank of Captain; you may not join in these meetings. However, you hold the right to hear any information that is passed in this room. You may choose." "With all respects, I would like to stay and listen." "Indeed. Now, the next and final matter is to deal with the 3rd Division Captain Ichimaru Gin-"

(10 Minutes later)

Yoshirou was starting to regret his decision to stay in the room, after all who likes being totally ignored in a heated discussion? As far as he heard, it seemed that Gin had failed to kill or capture the Ryoka when he was given a chance earlier. **Maybe this is one of the Captains I'm going to have to report on? **Yoshirou thought.** I hope not, as a kid he creeped me out, as he is now I'm practically afraid of him. Hey wait up; this explains why everybody was acting odd when he gave that crap explanation for his choice, that didn't even make sense! "He's jus' no good"? What the hell could that mean? **Suddenly however, a loud noise brought his attention back to earth, a load clacking that everybody heard. **Wait a second that's the…**

ALERT! ALERT! INTRUDERS IN THE CITY! ALL PERSONAL SHOULD REPORT TO THEIR STATIONS!

"What? Intruders?"-Kenpachi growled, excitement growing in his voice. "Can it be… the same ones as before?"-Aizen added, apprehension in his voice rather than excitement. Gin however, kept a straight face, his grin not slipping for one second. Suddenly a loud stomp noise; faster than Yoshirou could follow, Kenpachi charged for the door, nearly ripped it off Its hinges and charged out, a maniacal grin on his face. "Wait Kenpachi! We are not supposed to just charge in!" Aizen shouted after him, but it was no use, Kenpachi was long gone. **Wow, I don't envy the man who gets in his way.**

"…It can't be helped… The meeting will be postponed for now! We will decide on Ichimaru's punishment later. Everyone please return to your defence stations for now." Everybody started filling out then. Aizen seemed to start saying something to Gin, but Soi Fon interrupted Yoshirou's chance to listen in. "The usual place, five hours time"- she curtly said before continuing. Kyoraku had not missed this, and sidled up as well "Oho, perhaps I was right?" "Nope, wrong, and don't let her hear you talk like that."-Yoshirou answered. "Hear what?"-Soi Fon said, suddenly reappearing between the two men. **Fast! Why in hell is everybody so fast! **"Do not mistake me Kyoraku; I have been using Yoshirou to further my training." "Oho, training of what type?" "Not of your concern". Once again Soi Fon disappeared "My, my, this sounds interesting! However, we don't have the time at the moment, you had best return to your squad as well Yoshirou, get them ready for whatever this problem is." Kyoraku finished before walking out. It was now Aizen who passed Yoshirou. "I'm sorry for speaking against you Yoshirou, it is just that I think being a Captain is too dangerous a responsibility, but I am glad that you are going to be getting the chance to prove me wrong." "Don't worry Aizen, I know where you are coming from, anyway, we should all be going"-Yoshirou finished, heading off in the direction of his own Squad's area.

(30 minutes later) (P.O.V change: Aizen)

Aizen was slowly striding the walkways of the street, he had already taken the time to alert his squad to the situation, however he had bigger things on his mind than these mere Ryoka. Suddenly, Gin appeared at his side. "Well, Aizen-Taichou, how can I help ya?" "Good work on raising the suspicion on yourself Gin, it will make our work all the more easier now." "Tha' was too easy, Aizen-Taichou, they seem t'be looking f'r anything to grab a'hold of f'r this. Still, what abou' the kid?" Gin inquired.

"That did not go quite as planned, after I suggested the disbanding of the squad to Yammoto, I did consider that Yamamoto would delay proceedings, but I did not expect him to try promoting a Kido user to Captain rank to save the squad, especially not that Yoshirou boy" "Wha' that kid? He's no problem a' all"-Gin laughed. "He is a loose thread, nothing more, but we must tread carefully, small as a loose thread is, there is every chance it is the thread that will unwind everything." "You really think tha' highly of him?" "As of now, he is a greater threat than even Yamamoto himself, not only is he not under the control of Kyouka Suigetsu, but his power easily rivals the other captains, what Reiatsu you felt from him is nothing compared to his power at it's fullest, as a Kido user, he could probably rival a Bankai even without drawing his Katana. And as a swordsman, there has never been a better Kido user who could use the sword properly bar me; his skill would equal Byakuya's, especially that Zanpakuto of his. As my sword is the zenith of illusion control, so his sword is the zenith of elemental and kido control." "Still, tha's nothing compared t' you"-Gin replied, although uneasy that Aizen would speak so well of any man, let alone a boy like that. "Indeed, for now he is nothing, but he could easily become a major threat to us." "So, your suggestin' we kill 'im then?"-Gin asked, now completely intrigued by the idea.

Aizen considered his plans, before slowly replying. "I don't believe that is necessary, he is no threat as long as he is unaware of our intentions, instead we can guide him as necessary, he could become a very valuable pawn. Most importantly, we need to protect him from any threats, at least until we are ready to dispose of him." "Wha'?"-Gin was now totally bemused "Do you not remember the steps to gain a Bankai Gin?" "Hrm, theres Kaigan (1), tha gets ya tha Shikai, Judaku (2), Sosei (3), Jitsugen (4) an Shoufuku (5) gets ya tha Bankai righ'?" "Correct, now Yoshirou has proceeded as far as Jitsugen (4), I have seen the results of this before. However, he has actually skipped a step, Sosei (3)." "Ah, now I get yer meanin' Aizen Taichou!"-Gin said, realisation of Aizen's plan now dawning on him.

"Correct, Sosei (3) requires a defeat at the hands of a person far stronger than yourself, be it spiritually or physically, and the process of recovery from that defeat, in that you become stronger. However, young Yoshirou has never faced a situation which would give him this experience before; he has always been under the protection of Tessai in the past. By the time that protection was removed, he had already gained a huge amount of power for himself, so finding an opponent strong enough to overwhelm him completely would not be easy. As he is now, there are very few people who could provide that experience. The definite examples that could only number two, me and Yamamoto-Sou-Taichou. There are of course many who could give him the experience, but only we two would have a 100% chance. You Gin, Tosen, Kyoraku, Ukitake and perhaps Kenpachi also could, but that barbarian would never be able to defeat a Kido user of his level, you two will be under my explicit order not to engage him, and the other two would never consider fighting him at full power. The only wild card is Yamamoto-Sou-Taichou, but I doubt highly the man would bring harm to his newest pawn, seeing as how he battled so hard to give him his Captain Rank."

"Oh you are devious Aizen-Taichou! So, wha's next on the agenda?" Aizen looked up at the clear, bright sky. "I think this would be a good day for me to die, don't you think?"

* * *

**Now the japanese terms I have used (thanks to redwarrioroflight) are of my own searching, I don't know if the real terms exist or not, but I doubt it. This is my interpretation of the steps to Bankai**

**(1) Kaigan: Awakening-The step of learning your Zanpakuto's name and releasing the shikai the first time**

**(2) Judaku: Acceptance-The step of realising your Zanpakuto's own soul. This ones my add in, it was during the fight with Kenpachi that Ichigo went through "Judaku"**

**(3) Sosei: Reviving-The step of facing a higher power, and overcoming your trauma of it. Once again another add in by me, Ichigo has gone through multiple Sosei's, but the one that strikes me the most would be Byakuya almost killing him in the real world. For the record, Renji's Sosei is spiritual, when Byakuya effortlesly took Rukia from him when they were young, that gap in their power became his Sosei, and it was his will to finally overcome it that lead to his Bankai. Ikkaku's Sosei was from Kenpachi, Soi Fon's was her resentment in the gap between her and Yoruichi. I don't feel like inventing any more XP**

**(4)Jitsugen: Materialisation-The step of materilizing the Zanpakuto spirit. Self explanitory**

**(5)Shoufuku: Submission-The step of forcing the submission of the materialised Zanpakuto. This one has a new feature for me, your Zanpakuto will not recognise you if you have't proved your worth via the Sosei step.**

**Anyhow, thanks for reading yet another chapter! I have obtained the confidence now to keep this up for a good while. Sorry if you guys are missing the romance element, I am still undecided on who it might be, regardless there will be an interesting bit in the next chapter, nothing major but it should be fun if I can nail the writing down right. Seeya then!**


	8. Chapter 8 Ryoka Encounter

**Sorry everybody, I know I said in my last update I was going to be throwing in the part to do with Soi Fon, but I had a rather interesting idea in school today (god lessons are boring). As such we have one more meeting to go before we end up with Soi Fon. Anyhow read on!**

**Note: Today we had our first visitor from Portugal 0.0 To be fully honest, I had no clue that Portugese would read this kind of site, but it seems I have my first Portugese reader, thanks whoever you were!**

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God, I felt like I was going to die back there.

_You really were pretty worried about the meeting then._

**Oh, the meeting? Yeah I suppose so, but what I meant is that I am bloody starving!**

…_you just never change do you?_

**Never.**

Yoshirou was back in his barrack's, finally getting his lunch that he had sorely missed earlier. **Mmm, you can't beat some Katsu Kare with loadsa Tonkatsu when you are starving!**

_Curry rice and pork? Well I suppose its more normal than the things your normally eating. You do know since I am a part of your soul, technically you are forcing me to eat that rubbish too?_

**No your not, you just don't like me ignoring what you want to talk about so your picking a random subject to get my attention again. As I said, it's already been done. In fact the result is slightly better now in hindsight, I still get a little bit of freedom until Ukitake is better, and if I can prove myself to him and gain his approval in this time that I've been given, well it makes things all the easier.**

_Oh, so you have been thinking on it then? Why didn't you discuss it with me?_

**Cause it's boring.**

_Idiot. Anyway, enough about this, you should take to that Kira girl, she's not said a word since we returned._

**Good point**. "Hey Kira, whats eating you?".Kira jumped in surprise at being addressed, she had been staring nonchalantly into her bowl of noodles, lost in her thoughts. "Erm, why exactly was I called today? I mean they just asked me to show my face then leave, what was the point in all of it?" "Hrm, Kyoraku wanted to see the face of the youngest girl in my squad, so I brought you along." "Please, don't joke about this Taichou, I was brought in front of all of the Captains of Soul Society today, please tell me seriously why." **Well, I guess I'm going to have to tell her then, I just hope she doesn't talk about it to others.** "Okay then Kira, what I'm about to tell you, you can't repeat to anyone, it's the highest level confidentiality report you will probably ever learn of." Kira's eyes widened upon hearing this, she was about to learn something this important? "Okay then, this might take a while… No, let's just shorten it, I have a busy time schedule today, lets just say it won't be long before I will have any permission to stop you from calling me Taichou."-Yoshirou finished, watching Kira for her reaction. Just as he thought, she didn't fail to disappoint; she practically fell out of her seat, if it wasn't for Yoshirou quickly grabbing her arm, she would have toppled over backwards and onto the floor. She settled back down quickly, and was about to open her mouth to reply, but Yoshirou quickly interjected, saying "Remember, high confidentiality, no shouting in shock please". However, she didn't seem to be shocked to him, instead a massive smile was spread across her face; she looked joyful as anything he had seen before.

"They are finally making you a Captain for real! Wow, I never imagined that you would ever take the title Taichou! I knew you were good enough to be a real captain!" "That's not all though, the reason why I dragged you along with me was for one reason alone, Yamamoto asked me to bring along my prospective Vice-Captain." Now the face shows shock Yoshirou thought, as her face once again made another change, although he couldn't really see much, she had brought her hands up and covered most of her face. "B-b-but, I'm not the next in line; I'm like the 12th seat! W-why did you choose…" Kira petered out what she was saying then, and although her hands were still firmly in place, Yoshirou thought that her face was starting to go flushed. "I chose you because out of everyone, your showing me the most promise. Truly there are still area's you suck at, your Bakudo among them, and there are others that are still stronger than you in our squad, but your skills are growing faster every time I see you, I mean that last one, a level 50 spell, you mastered in two weeks, that's no mean feat! Also, you seem to have the energy and feelings needed to be a Vice-Captain as well, finally I would just get pissed off if my direct subordinate was one of the boring types, your just about as lively as yours truly, I'm going to need that help soon, being a Captain is sure not going to be fun and games, that and you seem to not mind about the paperwork side, that's going to be a relief!"

Kira still seemed to be pretty shocked by this new revelation. "Tell you what Kira, I'm going out into the gardens now, when you've calmed down, come talk with me about this again."-Yoshirou said, quickly eating the last dregs of food in his bowl, before throwing it into the nearby sink and walking out. Kira just remained there, still trying to absorb everything she had just heard.

(Gardens)

**Ah man, these day's are getting too long, its barely been a day since Kira came in here with that message, yet it feels like years have passed since I last just sat down here.**

_Well what do you expect? You've done more today than you probably have in the entire year as it is, you got told you were becoming a Captain, you have a real mission after so long. You realise a person is being condemned wrongly, you fight with an old friend, and you face down all of the Captains of Soul Society, what do you expect but to feel tired?_

**That's something else we got to talk about, what are we going to do regarding that sister of Byakuya's, that Rukia Kuchiki? I mean hell, I almost feel like going down the street, finding those Ryoka and joining them. If it wasn't for this squad, I probably would.**

_Don't think that way, there is still much we can do here, you only failed to get Byakuya to side with you, the other Captains will probably be more likely to help._

**Yea your right, no point in giving up hope now, there's still much I can do on this side. You know, this feels weird. I was originally told to do a mission where I would stop the Ryoka and report upon the Captains who were considering helping them, yet I find myself doing exactly that to them. This case is just too strange for me; surely Yamamoto would have known that I may indeed do this?**

_I think this may have been a test for you, which now makes this all the more harder, for we must proceed without raising suspicion on ourselves._

**Damn, things are never quite so simple huh? Well, for now I can simply just watch the leaves fall… or not, seems Kira has recovered.**

Sure enough, Kira was walking over towards the lying down Yoshirou. Yoshirou didn't feel like getting up though, so this time it was Kira who sat beside him. For a while neither spoke, just watching the trees sway in the wind. "Damn it Kira, don't you go getting all melancholic too… I gave you this post so that I would have some feelings of freedom about me, don't you go spoiling it now!" Kira laughed quietly upon hearing this.** Good, seems she has calmed down now. **"Thank you Taichou, for making me the Vice-Captain." "Oi oi don't go getting ahead of yourself, it still isn't official, hell it isn't even confirmed I will become the Captain, it's only if I get Ukitake's approval will I have it." "Ah okay then, shouldn't take you too long if you get off your backside and go see him!"** Heh, her spirit seems to be back too. **"No can do, got to get going elsewhere now, I got some training to do. Want to hold onto my bands while I'm out? I wont need them were I'm going." More like I will probably be killed if I wear them training with her. Yoshirou thought as he unclipped the bands and handed them to Kira "Okay then I'll look after them Taichou, come back soon!"

"Oh, since you are going to be my Vice-Captain, it's about time you sorted that problem with your unbalanced kido style"-Yoshirou quickly said, stopping himself from leaving. "Well, it would be a lot easier if you could teach me then Taichou!" "Afraid not, I'm busy right now, and probably will be for a long time, instead I received an invitation for you by Aizen, he said that since you probably suck at kido, you could train with his Vice-Captain." "No he didn't Taichou, you're the only person mean enough to say my kido sucks."-Kira responded, giving him a fake irritated look before smiling again. "well maybe not that exactly, but he has said that if you want, there is an open invitation to train with his Vice-Captain, she could show you the skills that would be required of you as a Vice-Captain, and perhaps correct those MASSIVE holes in you technique." "Hey, don't be mean! But that was really nice of Aizen-Taichou to give me an invitation like that." "Probably trying to make up for opposing the decision to make me a Captain."-Yoshirou grumbled to himself, too low for Kira to hear. "Anyway, when you have free time this afternoon, you might want to go down there and take him up on his offer."-Yoshirou finished, turning once again to leave.

(30 minutes later) (Streets)

Yoshirou was now wandering aimlessly about; he still had another two hours until the meeting time with Soi Fon, so he had to find something to do. As he headed into an open plaza, he spotted something interesting. Ahead of him two shinigami seemed to be arguing over something. One of them, a fiery orange haired girl seemed to point in his direction, the other; a pencil thin guy with glasses seemed to be shaking his head. However, whatever the man had been refusing didn't seem to stop the girl as she walked over to Yoshirou, a cheerful smile on her face. "Excuse me mister Shinigami, is there anyway you could help us? We are kind of lost, ehehe" **Cute laugh **Yoshirou thought, **that and there's no way that uniform could hide those melons she has.** The thin guy had caught up with her now. "Err, sorry to waste your time, we should be heading off now"-thin man blurted out, while lightly pulling on the girls uniform. However, the girl wasn't to be pulled off, she turned to her friend, saying "Ishida-kun, we really are lost! Besides, this Shinigami seems nice, he could tell us where we need to go." "Inoue-san, we really shouldn't be wasting our time here!"-the man called Ishida repeated. "Mister Shinigami, we really need to get to the Shrine of Penitence, is there anyway you could guide us there?"-Inoue asked hopefully. "Can't refuse a cute girl, could you tell me why your heading that way?" "Oh it's because another shinigami told me that Rukia was… oh no I said to much Ishida! What do I do?" Ishida pushed past Inoue, saying "What she means is that we were told to inspect the location of the prisoner named Rukia." **Rukia? Wait, these guys are saying the name Rukia, she's one of the Kuchiki clan, theres no way a normal shinigami would use her first name! Could these guys be the Ryoka I heard so much about? I'd best check.** "Did you get the memo regarding the Ryoka incident? I hear they are pretty dangerous." **There is no memo, such a trivial way of delivering messages would never be used by Shinigami, it would be a message by Hell Butterflies, lets see their reaction… **"Yes, I heard about that memo, we are being very careful of any suspicious individuals, now we really need to be going Inoue…"

"Bad luck Ishida, if that's your name, Shinigami don't use memo's" Yoshirou watched as the full weight of the blunder sunk into the man before him. Much to his credit, he didn't panic or randomly attack, instead putting an arm in front of the girl and lightly pushing her back out of Yoshirou's attack range. He then suddenly disappeared, reappearing further down the street, having picked up the girl, and then upon dropping her off there, he returned, once again standing outside Yoshirou's range. "What do you want, Shinigami?"-Ishida demanded. **Wow, that unconfident tone of his has vanished, this guy is either supremely confident in his skills, or an idiot. Judging from that technique a second ago, I'd say it's the former. **"Nothing much Ishida, you and the girl Inoue will surrender to me and be escorted back to my squad." "I refuse"- Ishida replied, raising his arm up. Suddenly, Yoshirou sensed a surge of reiatsu from around the arm, and a bow appeared, forming around his hand. "Oh, that's rare, you're a Quincy am I right?"-Yoshirou asked, clearing his own Zanpakuto from its sheath. "Also you seem pretty confident in your capabilities to take me on, I'm guessing your not facing a Shinigami for the first time? And at that, you bested the last one with ease." Ishida's face faltered for a second, before reforming into its serious tone. "I'm surprised, you both know I am a Quincy, and are able to deduce so much from my movements alone, I mistook you for an easy to dupe fool, I will not be so careless again. For a Shinigami, you're rather interesting, who are you?" **What's this?** Yoshirou thought, ignoring the question. **I can sense another reiatsu source, but it's from the wall over there, and carefully concealed, what the heck?**

"My mistake, you are a fool, leaving such an opening for me"-Ishida announced as he opened fire upon the distracted Yoshirou. However, Yoshirou had seen the attack coming, and quickly cut the arrow out of the air, instead pointing his finger at his opponent and instantly fired off a Byakurai spell at his opponent without incantation. The Quincy however, had already moved, now behind Yoshirou, he once again opened fire. **Same trick as Byakuya huh? That's not going to work again **Yoshirou thought as he repelled the fire with another skip incantation move, using the same move that stopped Byakuya's blade, Seki. He quickly turned before his opponent could move again and intoned "Bakudo no. 01, Sai!" His opponent found his arm locked behind his back, unable to weild his bow, he could only stare as Yoshirou sheathed his Zanpakuto. "Now, you will surrender, and you and the girl shall come with me". Ishida didn't say anything, but his bow was dispersed quickly, and he seemed to kneel in surrender.

Yoshirou approached Ishida, but a thought was niggling at the back of his head. **That was too easy; he can't have surrendered that fast surely? **In all, Yoshirou didn't actually want to arrest these Ryoka, but that reiatsu leaking from the wall had him worried, and he believed somebody was observing their fight. **Hey, he's muttering something… wait muttering? That's chanting! He's going to use a Quincy spell! **However, before Yoshirou could back away, he felt something small hit his robes, two small silver tubes. "Wolke!"-Ishida intoned, jumping backwards, away from where he had thrown the tubes. Time seemed to slow for Yoshirou as he considered the situation before him**. Wolke, the spell for a blast?** Yoshirou thought, as he saw the tubes start to glow. **I see, he put the bow away to prepare this, he is indeed good. I could stop this blast easily… no, this is perfect. I wasn't fast enough to stop the blast; that will suffice…** Bracing himself for the blast he knew was coming, Yoshirou watched as the tubes hit full light, then expelled a large amount of force at him, he felt himself flying along the street, aiming right towards the wall, at the last second, he cast the spell he had been preparing, "Bakudo no. 37, Tsuriboshi!" A web of reiatsu spread out behind him, catching him before he smashed into the wall. Although he was unhurt from such a tiny blast, he still curled up as if in pain. Through his half closed eyes he could see the man standing there, looking at him. After a second, the boy vanished. From sensing the reiatsu flow around him, Yoshirou determined that he had once again gone to the girl, and was now running away with her. **Good, I thought for a second the idiot was going to hang around, but he left, now, about that wall…**

Getting up from the folds of his kido web, Yoshirou drew on his reserves again. "Bakudo no. 62, Hyapporankan." Yoshirou intoned, closing his hands, then spreading them once again, summoning a rod of light into existence. Catching the rod, Yoshirou announced "Alright, now, whatever is in the wall over there, show yourself, or I'm going to start playing "Pin the Tail on the Donkey"". This threat seemed to work, as a shape appeared in the wall, flakes of stone disintegrating from about it. "Mayuri" Yoshirou confirmed, watching as the man, or whatever else he was, stepped away from the wall. "My, my, your abilities do indeed confuse me, you sensed my presence immediately, so you have some adaptable skills, yet you failed to stop such a weak foe. However, that doesn't mean your weak, since that spell you have in your hand is practically pulsing with force, the only conclusion I can reach is that…" Uh oh "…you are an idiot, you were stupid enough to underestimate such a weak foe, and you were soundly defeated because of it. Seems I was right about not needing you as a Captain, you are useless." Concluding with this, Mayuri once again stepped into the wall and disappeared.

**Heh, you think this one has force, you wait till you see my real spells clown **Yoshirou mentally said, however, he had one other thing he wanted to do. Taking a stick of charcoal from his robes, he once again scanned the nearby areas for Reiatsu sources. Confirming nobody was within range to detect his reiatsu, he started drawing marks upon the floor. A few seconds of quick handiwork later, the drawing took form, a circle, cut in four parts, with a symbol inside each one. Placing his hands below the circle, and focusing upon the Reiatsu signature of the man named Ishida; Yoshirou intoned "Bakudo no. 58, Kakushi Tsuijaku!" The circle glowed with light, then started flashing numbers. Memorising the numbers that appeared, Yoshirou crumpled part of the charcoal within his hand, before spreading the marks across his arms. Can't afford to skip incantation on this one, I could contact the wrong person, and that will ruin everything. Finishing his work by placing a symbol upon each palm, Yoshirou focused hard upon the numbers he memorised, put his arms forward, palms facing out, and started chanting. "_Black and white net. Twenty-two bridges, sixty-six crowns and belts. Footprints, distant thunder, sharp peak, engulfing land, hidden in the night, sea of clouds, blue line. Form a circle and fly though the heavens" _As he chanted, the marks upon his arms started glowing with a golden light, as the glow reached the symbols on his palms, a golden square of light formed in front of his outstretched palms"Bakudo no. 77, Tenteikūra!" -Yoshirou intoned, watching as a single barb of light, visible only to him, stretched out from the centre of the square and sped off into the distance. He felt through the line the Reiatsu of Ishida, which pulsated in surprise at the contact with his own.

"Hey Ishida, I just realized I never answered the young ladies question, how unbelievably rude of me! Anyway, tell the girl that the location you are seeking is the massive building in the centre of Seireitei, big tall one, can't miss it really. From your current location, you should head roughly North-North-East, that should get you there, have fun on your outing! Ah yes, another question you gave me, I'm sorry but I was a bit distracted when you asked me it. Anyhow, the name is Yoshirou Kenshin, just don't go telling that to anyone if you are captured, I already had one Captain giving me weird looks after that fight. Anyhow, good luck on whatever you guys are planning, just please try to keep all casualties to a minimum, personal favor for the information okay? Good luck!" With that, Yoshirou terminated the connection. **Now, I had better get going or I'm going to be late!**

_Are you sure that was wise? You know that they don't have any chance of succeeding against all of Soul Society; you just sent them to their deaths._

**No I didn't, no matter which route they took, they were sure to find enemies, my only choice it to give them the fastest route in, then hope they get the hell out of there before they encounter something bigger than them. Besides, something tells me neither of those was the leader, they have someone stronger among them, whichever man had the balls to consider taking on Soul Society all for that girl, this Kurosaki Ichigo.**

(P.O.V change, Ishida)

Ishida had stopped holding onto his head. **That was perhaps the strangest experience I have ever had.** "Are you okay Ishida-kun?"-Inoue asked, worried as to why he had suddenly stopped. "Yes, I'm fine. More importantly, I know where we must go now."-Ishida replied. "Huh, how did you do that Ishida-kun?" "That man I defeated just told me, I don't fully understand how he did it, but he just spoke in my head." "Eek, you killed him and now he's haunting you!" "I-Inoue-san… that's a dramatic, more likely he just used a communication spell"-Ishida explained. **More importantly, that name, it's the same one Urahara told me.** "Really? But he was quite weak wasn't he?"

"No, not at all, he wasn't fighting us for real, I noticed it right at the start that he was distracted by something, following his gaze, I picked up on a Reiatsu I had missed before. If he hadn't given it away, I would have never noticed whatever was hiding there. Also, that first spell he used, I have asked Urahara about what we would face, and he warned me of the shinigami magic, Kido. He said that most users use an incantation followed by the name to use a spell, just like I do with my Ginto techniques. However, stronger users may skip the incantation and just use the spell name, this weakens the spell but makes it easier to cast. Finally, the true masters of Kido can utilize spells without even using the names. He said he knew only of two people who fight that way in Soul Society, the old man known as Yamamoto-Shugekuni-Genryuusai, and a young man known as Yoshirou Kenshin. He warned me that encountering either of these people would result in our immediate loss, that we should pray we do not encounter them. That man's first and second spells were both used without any names or chants, and both had force surpassing a normal spell cast. As such, he must be the said Yoshirou Kenshin, he confirmed it earlier in that message he said straight to my mind. What a scary individual, I'm glad he decided to give way to us."

"No he didn't, you beat him in the fight"-Inoue stated, confused as to what Ishida was talking about. "No, if he had been serious, he would have defeated me immediately, I caught him off guard with my first shot, yet he was fast enough to both turn and knock the shot out of the air, also when I used my last technique, I saw him look on the tubes, he knew what was coming but didn't counter, he gave us that fight, there is no doubt about it. That man wasn't even a captain, yet he was that horribly powerful, we will have to be more vigilant Inoue-san, if anything, meeting him has helped us greatly, I now know just how dangerous this place truly is. We will have to tread carefully from now on."

* * *

**Well, another chapter done, I will write the promised bit with Soi Fon next, although I am not 100% sure how I will portray her, especially considering the situation both of these people are about to be in. Oh well, i'll just have to hope I get it right! See you in the next chapter!**


	9. Chapter 9 Training with Soi Fon

**Longest Chapter yet, this one surpasses 5000 words. As usual, please read and review!**

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**All right, here we are, and still got fifteen minutes to spare.** Yoshirou thought, as he stared up the bare rock mountain face in front of him. **I still never get why she insists we go all the way up here; it's a pain in the ass to scale this mountain face. Sure, the little forest edge clearing up the top is a perfect spot, but so is a million other easier to reach spots.** **It's not that getting up here is tiring, so it can't be any kind of training reason to scale this.** Yoshirou concentrated, planning his route throughout the rock face. Upon determining the route he wanted, he started scaling the mountainside, deftly leaping from hand hold to hand hold. **That's another thing, how exactly does she get up here so fast? I never see her scale this thing, but she is always standing there at the top. I don't see how she could get up; this rock face is the only route. **Sure enough upon getting to the top, there she was standing, looking out across the view that the mountain offered.** Oh, maybe she likes the view here? But she doesn't strike me as the type to sit and watch like me. **Yoshirou thought as he walked over to the waiting Captain. Sure enough, the view was astounding, a perfect view of the forests that ran over the edges of the Seireitei. It was slightly marred by the direct view of the Soukyoku stand, a signal of death, but it was a beautiful sight none the less. "Your late"-Soi Fon announced without even turning. "Really? I thought I had a few minutes spare, oh well, I had something holding me up" "Spare the excuses, I have very little spare time in my schedule, even getting two hours out here took a lot to arrange" **Wow, what's got her annoyed?** "I never really got around to asking, but why did you choose this spot? Like the view or something"-Yoshirou inquired. "Hardly, its just that Ōmaeda can't bother me up here, he twists his ankle or something alike on every attempt to get up the mountain side, I didn't choose this spot for our training, I chose this spot as a place where I wouldn't have to listen to his insistent whining 24/7". This drew a small laugh from Yoshirou, although sarcasm was not one of his best skills, Soi Fon was surely a master of the art.

"Enough, time is wasting, as I said I have very little time today, so we shall have to make do." Soi Fon announced, walking to the centre of the clearing as she pulled off her Captain Haori. As usual, she had the shoulder less uniform of the Commander-in-chief of the Onmitsukidō. She quickly turned to face Yoshirou. "Well then, I suppose we had best start" **Still feels odd that for the past month, I have technically been a teacher to a Captain.** "As usual, we need to get the Reiatsu flowing strongly, so we had best start where we normally do" Yoshirou said, as he settled into his combat pose. "Ah, actually shouldn't we take the Zanpakuto's off?" "No point, in battle you fight with the Zanpakuto on your body, so you do with Hakuda"-Soi Fon replied, quickly taking the initiative and crossing the clearing in a flash. Yoshiro barely had time to duck before a leg flew straight for his head. **As usual, she doesn't hold back with where she is aiming. **Using his momentum, he quickly spun, aiming to sweep her supporting leg from under her. No such luck however, she dropped down to her hand instead, once again aiming for his head with her foot. Since he was already ducking, Yoshirou had no choice but to directly try and block the kick with his hand. The force from the blow nearly had him lose his balance, but he managed to keep his pose, instead grabbing her foot with his hand, catching her leg with the other arm, spinning on the spot and throwing her back across the field.

The move barely fazed the Captain though; she corrected her flight in mid-air and upon hitting the ground, crossed the clearing in one leap, aiming a punch for his gut. Yoshirou pivoted, trying to dodge the blow, but it was a feint, the moment her foot touched the earth, she pulled her punch, instead spinning once again and kicking him in the back, sending him flying across the field, landing him in a tangled heap a few meters away. "Is that all you have, Yoshirou? You've gotten sluggish since the last time." "Can it, I just slipped." "Oh I see, slipped five meters across the ground?"-Soi Fon taunted, smirking at Yoshirou as he flipped himself up from the ground. **Oh, I forgot how annoyingly smug she can act. **"I'll show you slipping then, Soi Fon!"-Yoshirou shouted, gathering his reiatsu into his legs and hands. With an explosion of dust, he flew across the battlefield at blinding speed, aiming a direct punch at the Captain. Soi Fon raised both of her arms and blocked the punch, but even with her own power placed behind her, she still skidded a full meter back, her feet digging trenches in the earth from the pure force behind Yoshirou's punch. "How's that then?" Yoshirou asked. "Better, but a naïve move, now you're completely open!" Yoshirou, realizing that Soi Fon had achieved her aims with her taunt perfectly, tried to back away, but she had hold of his arm. She sunk a fist straight into his stomach, followed up with a knee strike, before pivoting and throwing him over her shoulder… and out over the mountain face. **Fuck, this is going to hurt** Yoshirou half thought, before he started hitting into the rock face.

Five minutes later, Yoshirou had finished scaling the rock face again, now covered with loads of tiny cuts. "You look a mess"-Soi Fon observed. "Well, the rock face did more damage than your punches, so if you keep quiet, I will simply vent my fury at the rocks." "Idiot, if you don't watch your movements, then of course you will be taken advantage of. You had it going alright at the start, tight moves and a decent counter, but after you threw me, you slackened your focus. You then allowed me to taunt you into fury, and left me an even bigger opening. If I was fighting for real, you would be dead by now. Learn from your mistakes and improve your technique." **Well I suppose she has a point** Yoshirou relented. **These sessions are as much training for me as it is for her. **"Well, rock face to blame or you for this abuse, I think we are ready now to continue. As usual, the tree stump over there is where you sit." Soi Fon nodded curtly, before walking over to the stump, sitting down, and concentrating.

**Now, this is where we hit the proverbial boulder** Yoshirou thought. **She wants to learn how to control Kido flow, but she has little talent for the actual control. I can sense within her she does have a rather decent well of Kido energy, but she is used to fighting with Hakuda, her body has taught itself that action is everything. Kido requires tranquility on the opposite hand and the ability to reach into the flow within your own reiatsu.** As he watched, he could see on her face that she was steadily getting more and more frustrated. "Calm Soi Fon, don't forget that the necessary foundation of this technique is tranquility, you need to keep calm and be able to see the flow within your own reiatsu." Another curt nod from the Shinigami Captain, although her tense posture showed that she hadn't even attempted to do what he had said. **This is going to be slow work** Yoshirou thought **I do know some alternatives, but they are not really necessary for her, she has abundant energy, she just needs to tap into the flow.**

Soi Fon however, was getting visibly more annoyed by the second with her lack of success. After ten minutes of attempting to get control, Yoshirou ordered her to take a break. Looking at the captain, he noticed that she was covered in sweat. **That's bad **Yoshirou thought. **She isn't trying to get in touch with the flow, she is trying to force the flow to her will, no matter how I tell her, she just ignores me. **"Hey Soi Fon, why is it so urgent that you complete this training?"- Yoshirou asked. "Due to the invasion of the Ryoka, it is imperative that I finish this technique as soon as possible." "C'mon, you and I know the Ryoka are not that massive a threat, now what's the real reason"

There was no reply from that. Oh well, it was a long shot Yoshirou thought. If I understood why, then it might have been easier. "There is somebody I must surpass"-Soi Fon suddenly said quietly. After saying this, she stood back up, returned to the stump and started concentrating again. **Ah damn, it's an inferiority complex? That makes things even worse **Yoshirou realized. **It's impossible to do this while the inferiority complex is unsolved, and judging from her power, this is not something that can be solved without having cured this problem. Perhaps this technique that she hopes to develop IS the way she will overcome this complex? Well, that means we are indeed going to have to use a different method. But none of the conventional ones are going to work. Taiyou?**

_Yes, I see what your problem is. I probably could help, but it will be difficult, with her personality especially. I see it that we have two methods, they are…_

**What the hell? She is not going to like that second method one bit!**

_It is only an alternative; the first method will work just as well, it's all down to how urgently she wants to complete this._

**Well, I'd best relay the message then.** "Soi Fon, take another break, there's something I got to tell you" Soi Fon strode back over to him, her face slightly betraying the curiosity as to what he had to say. "Well I got some good news, and bad news. Judging from what you just told me, you are probably not going to progress much further under this method." This earned him a look that could kill. "However, Taiyou and I have come up with two alternatives. Option 1: You are going to synch with Taiyoukousen, my Zanpakuto. She is able to easily manipulate Reiatsu inside the body of her user, she is the reason why I have become proficient with Kido to the degree I have. However, this method is a long one, after all, Taiyoukousen is not your Zanpakuto, and the power held within the actual Katana pales in comparison to what is within my soul. I would estimate that if I lent you Tayoukousen, you would be able to manipulate your Kido flow within roughly a month, give or take a few days."

"Not good enough, I need to be able to finish this technique sooner."-Soi Fon answered "Well I have another alternative; this one will probably take only a few minutes…" "Well if you had an alternative that was so fast, why explain about the first one?" "Simple, you are not going to like this alternative, not one bit in the least." Yoshirou answered her, although he was now having trouble retaining eye contact. "I can do whatever is necessary, explain it." Yoshirou took a deep breath before continuing. "You will synch with me instead, and Taiyoukousen through me." Soi Fon narrowed her eyes at that one. "I do hope this "synch" you referred to is not what I think it is"

"No it probably isn't as bad as whatever you just thought of. The process is simple enough, you will hold onto the katana form of Taiyoukousen, while I will directly send my reiatsu into your body. Taiyoukousen should then be able to manipulate my powers inside your own body, and draw it out into the katana. This will artificially create a flow within your own reiatsu; your body will automatically record this flow. After the process is finished, your body will be able to automatically pick up on its flow, and you will be able to summon Kido energy on your own, I can assure you that no amount of my own reiatsu will remain inside your body, Taiyoukousen will remove all traces before we de-synch"

"Your right, I don't much like the sound of that option, sending your reiatsu into my body? I have never heard of such a process being possible, I have heard of replenishing Reiatsu from another person's own, but actually sending a person's pure reiatsu into their body? Wouldn't the effects of that be catastrophic on the body?" "In all normal cases it would be, but as I said already, Taiyoukousen specializes in controlling my Reiatsu, she can perfectly align my reiatsu to your own. That is why I called the process a "synch", I will literally be synching my reiatsu in line with your own. There are no negative side effects, at least in theory; we haven't had a chance to test it. There will most likely be some effects during the process, after all your body will be containing my Reiatsu, but nothing that will harm you." Soi Fon stared at Yoshirou for a minute, apparently gauging whether he was telling the truth or not. Eventually, she sighed. "All right then, let's do the second one." "Ah, there's one point I didn't say, for fear of you doing something drastically nasty to me. I need to have physical contact with your body for the process." Indeed, Soi Fon walked over, and punched Yoshirou straight in the face. "Don't forget such important details in future"-Soi Fon calmly said, with Yoshirou rolling about in the dirt holding his face.

(10 minutes later)

"All right then, let's begin. As I explained, there's no need for you to change clothing, your shoulders, arms and back should suffice, since they are the points where you will be focusing your flow the most. Luckily, your uniform is accommodating for that" **That actually is pretty odd** Yoshirou thought as for the second time that day, he was stripping to his waist. **The uniform is practically perfect for this purpose. **"Just get on with it, we are short on time as it is, I have only just above one hour left, and I would like to get some practice with this technique after this process is finished."-Soi Fon irratably said, standing overlooking the Mountain View once again. **How is she so uncaring about this? Either she is not interested in the slightest, or has so much experience such contact doesn't bother her at all. **Yoshirou thought, as he unsheathed his Zanpakuto "Here, you need to hold onto this. Don't forget, no matter what happens in this process, don't try to back out, while there will be no damage to you, you could irrevocably damage my soul instead." "Tempting as that sounds, I will try to resist doing so"** And there's the sarcasm again. **As he looked at the captain, he realized a problem he hadn't considered, she was short, he would guess about 4'11. As he was 6'4 this was a problem, he was going to have to kneel. Getting down on his knees, Yoshirou said "Last chance to back out." "Why would I? If it's just a matter of embarrassment, I can put up with it for the chance to finish this tonight" **Oh, so she is thinking about this, I thought she was totally oblivious for a second** Yoshirou thought, as he lightly wrapped his arms about the petite captain, holding her hands about the Zanpakuto handle. As he lastly pressed his chest to her back, he thought **Taiyou, let's get this done, she's probably going to kill me if we aren't fast enough.**

Raising his reiatsu slowly, he felt it as Taiyou channeled the reiatsu across his body, raising it to his torso and arms, and carefully releasing it into the Captain's body. The moment the process started, every muscle in the captain's body tensed in reaction to the foreign invasion of Yoshirou's reiatsu. **Shit, we aren't going to get anywhere if she doesn't relax. **However, no sooner he thought this than the captain breathed out slowly and relaxed all of the tensed muscles. Upon her doing this, it suddenly occurred to Yoshirou just how soft a female body is. **You know Taiyou, for a person who has spent her entire life fighting; her back is actually quite soft when she relaxes...**

_And why would that concern me? Just concentrate on slowly raising the reiatsu output, if it goes too fast, we could have some problems_

**Wow, don't get mad because I'm complimenting a woman.** It wasn't much longer until he could feel the uniform flow within his own reiatsu flow into her body, merging with the flow present inside her reiatsu. It was a rather curious sensation. **Wow, this experience is definitely one to put in the diary** Yoshirou thought

**Put that down in a diary and I really will kill you**

**What the fuck? Soi Fon?** Yoshirou started in surprise, almost breaking the contact. However, he stopped himself before the frail connection snapped. **Taiyou, what the fuck is happening, you didn't say our thoughts would merge!**

_I'm just as surprised as you Yoshirou; you seem to forget this process has probably never been attempted in recorded history._

**So your Zanpakuto is a female, and a rather refined one at that, how come you're such an idiot then?**

**Soi Fon, from when were you aware of my thoughts?**

**Since you complained about me tensing up**

**…erm...**

**Don't worry, I won't kill you for the compliment, it's rare I hear any. But try thinking anything from it, and I won't kill you, I will simply tear your balls off instead.**

**Yikes, let's just try and get through this without any deaths or mutilations. Taiyou, you about ready now?**

_Yes, I'm going to proceed with channeling the reiatsu out now. Soi Fon, you are going to have to concentrate with me, feel the flow through what I control._

**Okay, begin.**

**My turn, reverse the hands, I have to hold onto the zanpakuto for a second, put yours over mine for now**

After Soi Fon had done this, Yoshirou intoned **Akariotoru, Taiyoukousen! (1)**

**…**

_Yoshirou, you said that in your head_

**Oops **"Akariotoru, Taiyoukousen!"

Upon the actual iteration of the release command, the Zanpakuto started blazing with light. The blade extended downwards, touching the floor and cutting right through.

**What the, what is with your Zanpakuto, and how come I felt no resistance when it went through solid rock face?**

**Look at the edge of the blade**

Soi Fon glanced down at the sword. It had finished extending, but she figured that a full third of the blade was now embedded in solid rock. The handle had also extended, this blade was clearly designed to be a massive two handed blade. Throughout the centre of the blade was a hollow part that cut straight through the middle of the blade. The width of the blade itself was massive, a full four inches from either side of the hollow cut out, however, the edges were odd as well, they had a narrow niche that ran along the blade edge, making the edge impossible to use. Instead, extending slightly from the edges was a thin edge of reiatsu. As she watched, the blade intermittently glowed a golden colour, and every now and then, a semi translucent silver flicker appeared in the edge.

**So the edge is what allows your sword to cut straight through the rocks, but what is with the colour flow? It's flickering silver sometimes.**

**Really? That's never happened before… Oh! You can be happy then, that would be your kido flow coming from your body! Mine has always been golden, if there's a new colour in there, that's yours! It worked! Now, could you put your hands under mine again, while the flow you had been letting out was enough to flicker the blade, it should be interesting to see what happens next.**

Once again, Soi Fon took a hold of the blade, while Yoshirou placed is hands over hers.

**Taiyou, I think we are just about finished now; can you release the reiatsu flow?**

No sooner than he had thought this, than the edge of his shikai blazed anew, the centre hollow also filled with light. Just as Yoshirou thought, the blazing light equally rotated between his own golden tone and this new translucent silver. The whole process was a rather spectacular display. However, it soon started to change, as the golden was slowly swallowed by the silver colour, getting weaker, until eventually the blade stopped glowing altogether.

(P.O.V change-Soi Fon)

As the last amounts of Yoshirou's reiatsu left her body, she felt the connection between her and the man disappear. Hearing a loud sigh from behind her, she felt the hands over hers lightly let go, and the embrace that she had been held in ended**. How strange, I didn't know it had gotten so cold** Soi Fon thought as she shivered from the cold wind atop the mountain **I suppose I didn't notice because of his presence.** She let go of the Zanpakuto in her hands. It was odd, but only a minute ago she had felt so connected to this sword, this weapon that wasn't a part of her soul like her true weapon. **No, it had become part of my soul in that instant, I suppose in a way, so was Yoshirou. How strange, I would bet Mayuri would be willing to sell his soul to get his hands on this zanpakuto if he knew what it could do. **"Well, with that you should be ready for whatever you wanted to learn this for" Yoshirou said, still kneeling on the ground. "Go ahead and try it out, remember, visualize the flow and follow it."** I still don't understand this flow though **Soi Fon thought as she concentrated. But much to her shock, she could feel it; the flow was steadily and surely spreading throughout every part of her body, it only took a minor amount of concentration to bring this energy to the surface. Concentrating, she willed the energy to flow to her hands, and surely enough, her hands took on the pale translucent silver glow she had seen earlier. Excited at this success, she tried to bring more under control, but the glow dispersed into nothing. "No, you don't summon it with force, you must encourage the flow towards where you intend to use it, force the flow and it will simply disperse." Yoshirou called over, having finally gotten back up from his kneeling position. **Tch, would have been too easy if I could master it immediately, still, I have the hang of it now, it shouldn't take more than a few days.**

Soi Fon, excited with her success, watched Yoshirou as he pulled his Shikai from the earth.** I was right, that sword is huge, how on earth could he wield that with his Hakuda? For what purpose did he request I teach him Hakuda if his sword is so unsuited for it? **However, she was suddenly surprised as she watched the blade edges blaze with its golden glow, and saw him make a few practice passes with the sword in both his hands. His swings were fast, unbelievably so for a sword that big, it seemed that the sword wasn't impeding his movements at all. Her surprise grew even more as he upped the speed, quickly swapping the sword from one hand to the other.** That's impossible; you can't wield a sword that big with one hand or at that speed! He's rivaling a Wakizashi with that speed! **Soi Fon marveled as she watched the impressive swordsmanship in front of her. Noticing her watching, Yoshirou sealed the sword, returning it to its katana form and sheathed it. "Sorry, just checking that the flow was still the same as before, seems it's perfect as usual." "How were you able to wield that blade so efficiently? That sword should carry so much weight that using it in that style is impossible." "Oh didn't you know? Taiyou is a light elemental type sword alongside being a reiatsu manipulator, everything about it relates to light, its edges cut as surely as a beam of light illuminates the darkness, it weighs about the same as light, yet carries every bit of momentum that its size suggests, I could easily smash aside a normal Zanpakuto with it. I think it can practically be weilded in any combat style, I could probably find a way to use Hakudo with it even. She does have a few more abilities, but I'm yet to master them all." **What an odd Zapakuto, Mayuri indeed would sell his soul for it.** Soi Fon concluded.

"Yoshirou, I dislike being in debt, so since we still about an hour left, there is one more thing I am going to teach you." Yoshirou looked up surprised at that comment "This is a technique, rather than a fighting style, but it is the basis for a fighting style as well. Earlier today, I watched your response to the actions of multiple people, including how you reacted to me. Also I noticed that you seemed to actually scale the mountain side to get here. In all, I can deduce that you were never taught the basics of Hohō. This is the art of movement. Just like Kido, Zanjutsu and Hakuda, it is one of the four main principles which make up Zankensouki (2). The name for the main technique is Shunpo. Since you are practically a prodigy of controlling your reiatsu, this shouldn't take too long. However, rather than your own reiatsu, you shall be gathering the reishi in the environment about you. You gather this around your feet, and by amplifying it with a burst of your own Reiatsu, you achieve an explosive increase in speed until the reishi disperse once again. The movement that is involved between each time you use this technique is Shunpo."

"Ah, so just like those Quincies do huh? Well I suppose I could give it a shot." Yoshirou said, closing his eyes. Soi Fon sensed a tiny spike in his reiatsu, then he disappeared from her sight. **Fast! That was unbelievably fast!** Soi Fon thought, he had completely eluded her ability to track his movement. However, even if it was fast, it wasn't perfect. He had reappeared merely 3 metres from his start point, even for a first try, that was a rather small distance compared to what she had anticipated. "Well, at least you can do it. Now, move from here to the stump over there!" Once again, he focused although this time without closing his eyes. Once again he disappeared. Soi Fon looked at the stump, expecting to see him there, but he never appeared. Glancing back, she saw that yet again, he had barely managed 3 metres. **Oh, this could take a while.** "Keep on practicing that basic movement, until you can reach that trunk."

(30 minutes later, P.O.V change, Yoshirou)

**God this technique is a pain** Yoshirou thought; as yet again he managed to reach 7 metres, just enough to finally reach the trunk. . Over the other side of the clearing, Soi Fon must have lost her patience as she called over "That's enough, you took far too long to cover that distance, I obviously overestimated what you would be possible of. Now, the next step is to use this in combat, you must first learn to use this technique consecutively. To begin with, we shall start with a race down the mountaintop. It took you five minutes to traverse the mountain side right? I will give you 30 seconds, now get moving!" **Damn, there's no way I'm letting her keep up that attitude. **Focusing, he quickly started using shunpo, within a fraction of a second; he was already over the mountainside. **Hey, if I keep this up, it shouldn't take anywhere near the amount of time she was talking about!** However, even though he managed it within 10 seconds, Soi Fon had already passed him along the way and was standing at the base of the mountain. "Well, it seems that although your distance is awful, your speed between steps is very short, impressively so in fact, it has already surpassed normal Captain speed, if not distance, and in barely half an hour. I believe if you continue this training, you could become pretty skilled in this. Now, I will take my leave, I will need to get back to my Barracks. There is no longer any obligation to continue this training; I shall complete my technique alone. If you wish further instruction in using shunpo, I would visit that friend of yours, he seems to be rather proficient at its usage, and undoubtedly he has more spare time than me." With that, Soi Fon disappeared once again, although Yoshirou could now pick up the direction she had gone since his senses were now attuned with their understanding of how shunpo worked.

**Heh, never even gave me the chance to thank her for this new technique, it should come in handy. Well, this has been a rather interesting training session, and I think not one I am going to tell Kyoraku about, he would butcher me for what happened between me and Soi Fon. Well she said keep up the practice of this technique, so let's go!** Yoshirou thought, using his newly learned skill to cover the distance back to Seireitei at breakneck speeds.

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(1) Akariotoru, Taiyoukousen: Let in the light, Rays of the Sun (This is the release command and name of the Zanpakuto translated)

(2) Zankensouki: The generic term for the compiled arts of the shinigami.


	10. Chapter 10 Aizen's Discovery

Sorry if there was any delay on this one, I hit a slight mental block while typing this one, it's probably going to be my worst chapter yet... sorry again, its still a hefty 3.5k, but trying to focus this chapter away from my main charecter was like pulling nails out of my hand, I just couldn't do it without making a mess, still I did the best I could, and heres the chapter to prove it!

* * *

Yoshirou was concentrating hard, sweat beading his forehead. Ever since he had arrived back at the barracks, he had retired to the training room. Everybody who had been using the room respectively left when he started to prepare, but they had all gathered by the door, curious as to what their leader could be training for, after all he was practically godly in his natural Kido control, they had never watched him practice any of his techniques, he never needed to, so what could it be that he would request usage of the training room for? However, they were slightly disappointed upon seeing what he was practicing, the higher seats of the squad were aware of the techniques required in Hoho, if they couldn't use it themselves, but for a man like their leader, surely this was a relatively minor technique? Those from the higher seats decided to just leave and get about their own business, but the weaker members were entranced by what they were watching, after all this man was literally teleporting constantly about the room, it was an amazing sight to see. Hours passed, as the older members noticed, the squad barracks had become very quiet, suspicious; they decided to visit the training room again. Upon arrival, they were surprised to see the room was still in use and the younger members still standing there, surely even they would get bored of seeing shunpo used non-stop? However, after watching the astounded faces of those still standing there, they decided to peak in again. Nearly all of them dropped in surprise, for just inside the room there were two people fighting each other with high speed movements, blow after blow raining down on each other. Now this would normally not surprise them, although their squad specialised in kido, it was important to keep the body healthy, so sparring was often used to keep in shape, no what took all of their attention was that the two people who were fighting weren't two people, but one. There were two Yoshirou Kenshin's fighting each other.

_I still don't see the point in using this high speed movement to create an after illusion of you, the point of this technique is surely to disappear, not to remain visible? All you're doing is exhausting yourself on a technique you can't really use._

**Wrong Taiyou, this technique is perfect for me, what is the main weakness of Kido? It is that you need to chant your techniques to gain the most out of it, if there is more than one target, then your opponent may make a mistake. Also, if you didn't notice, I can also combine this with my normal fighting style, after all what kind of person wouldn't be surprised at fighting two people simultaneously? Soi Fon was right, my distance with this technique still sucks, I haven't even gained a metre after training for the last two hours, but she said my speed between steps was fast, what if I instead improved that? As you can see, it seems to work. I can now make another version of myself by constantly jumping back and forth between the two points. It's still not perfect, but it seems from the guys watching at the door that it must be a pretty convincing technique.**

Yoshirou fell to the floor, exhausted after his non stop tirade of his technique. **I suppose your right about one thing, this is bloody exhausting! I'm going to have to practice a lot with this if I want to use it in combat. **The other squad members, upon seeing him collapse, rushed in to help him. "Are you alright Kenshin?" "What's wrong with him?" "Well that's bloody obvious, he's exhausted himself." "Oh you mean whatever he was doing exhausted him?" "C'mon Taichou, lets get ya somewhere more comfortable." Yoshirou felt multiple hands grab him and life him slowly to his feet. "Don't worry guys, I can walk! I'm just a bit tired, c'mon give me some room!"-Yoshirou asked. The hands supporting him let go, but after he nearly fell again, the hands returned around his arms, holding him up. "Stop playing tough Taichou! I dunno what that was you were doing but nobody does two hours of practice and comes out perfect!" "He's right." "What was that you were practicing? It was amazing!" "Don't bug him recruit, can't you see he's exhausted?" "Sorry, but I really want to know!" "I think we all do, but we got to respect his privacy!" "C'mon, let's find him a seat, recruit get him some water." Yoshirou found himself being steered towards the nearby bench. **Heh, these guys, I can always count on them to help me when I'm down.** "No need, I think I'm retiring for tonight. Actually, has anyone seen Kira about?"

(5 hours earlier Squad 6 Barracks) (P.O.V change Aizen)

"Ah, you must be Kira Hazuki? A pleasure to meet you." Aizen said his usual smile on his face as he greeted the young lady before him. "You must be here to accept the invitation I gave Yoshirou-kun then?" "Y-Y-Yes, Aizen-Taichou, I was told that you had offered to let me train with your Vice-Captain."-Kira stammered, surprised to have been greeted by the resident captain. "There is no need for formalities Kira, you can call me by my name alone, I find that using titles just creates tension in my squad, I have no doubt that Yoshirou-kun does it the same way."-Aizen said. "Now, come along, I believe Hinamori-kun is in the courtyard at the moment, although she does seem to wander around when I don't keep my eye on her, she may be in a number of places by now. Come; let's see if we can find her."-Aizen joked with a soft laugh, leading the way towards the barracks. **So, this is the prospective Vice Captain that he has chosen? **Aizen thought. **This almost seems humorous, this man that will present the biggest threat towards my plan has chosen a Vice Captain that is perhaps the weakest candidate I have ever heard of, what is it he hopes to achieve by making her his Vice Captain?**

Soon enough, Aizen and the accompanying Kira reached the courtyard where just as he predicted, his young Vice Captain was walking about, doing whatever task she had been attending to. "Hinamori-kun, may I have a moment of your time please?" Upon hearing his voice, the girl spun around, a smile lighting up her face as she saw him standing there, although it changed to a slightly quizzical one upon seeing Kira. "Aizen-Taichou! There's no need to ask me permission like that, of course you can have any time you need… sorry Aizen-Taichou, but who is the lady accompanying you? I don't think I've seen her about before" "Ah, of course, introducing Kira Hazuki 12th seat of the Kido Corps." Beside him, Kira made a slight polite bow. "I'm sorry to push this task onto you, but I promised a friend that she may be allowed to train with you, is there any way you could take care of this?"-Aizen asked his Vice-Captain. "Oh, that's no problem at all Aizen-Taichou! I'll take care of it immediately!" Hinamori said, reaching her hand out towards Kira "I'm Momo Hinamori, although friends just call me Momo, it's nice to make your acquaintance!" Taking her hand, Kira replied with a smilair statement "Hello Momo, if it's alright that I call you that. I'm Kira, sorry to be taking your time, but my Taichou wants me to train on my Bakudo, and he says he doesn't have the time to train me personally." "Oh, that's not a problem, it would be fun to have a training partner, by the way, you said your Taichou, I thought the current Kido Corps had no leader?"

This banter continued for a while, **I had best observe this woman** Aizen thought as he sat down on a nearby bench. **After all, Yoshirou must have chosen her for a reason, I shall find out why.** As he watched, the two girls, now best friends according to how they were acting, started to practice. First off Hinamori started to show examples of her own Bakudo, ranging several spells from skip incantation Horin (1) all the way to skip incantation Enkosen. She then asked Kira to give an example of her own spells. However, this didn't go so well, as after trying to cast the same start spell as Hinamori, she found the rope going out of control, smashing the tiles about her before Hinamori cancelled the out of control spell for her. **Wait a second** Aizen thought. **What was that I just sensed?** Aizen focused his senses upon the distraught form of Kira, he could sense her reiatsu, meager as it was, flowing from her. However, there was an even tinier source of reiatsu flowing from a pocket within her uniform, on further focusing, he devised the source was actually five even smaller sources summed together.

"Kira, a moment if I may?" Aizen said, walking over to the two girls. "Sorry to interrupt, but I felt a reiatsu source covering your own, I'm afraid that might be causing some disturbance on your own reiatsu flow, perhaps you should remove whatever this items are that are emitting the reiatsu?" "Oh, you mean these?"-Kira asked, fishing some bands from her pocket. Upon seeing the bands, the reiatsu that he was sensing was now starting to feel familiar. **Those bands that Yoshirou had at the meeting? Why are they emitting his reiatsu?** "Yes, those would be the offending article, would you like me to hold onto them for you?"-Aizen enquired. Kira seemed to falter for a second, but she quickly passed the bands to him. "There, that should make your training easier. Now Hinamori-kun, I'm afraid I have some business I must attend to, could I ask you to take care of Kira?" "I will, Aizen-Taichou" Hinamori replied, flashing a small smile before returning to the task at hand, namely cancelling another out of control spell for her troublesome companion.

Aizen walked into his own room, where he started to examine the bands within his hands. Immediately he could tell that there was something strange about the objects, they were old, incredibly so considering their near perfect condition. **Either he has kept good care of them** Aizen considered. **Or there is some kind of spell woven into the bands that maintain its condition. Judging from how he wore them, this was not the former.** Flipping the bands about, he realized the patterns suggested an order of usage. **Perhaps degrees of which to seal the reiatsu?** He was about to dismiss them as nothing more than a per functionary tool when he noticed some engravings upon the inside of the first band. **Salvation?** Checking the other bands, he found other symbols. **Punishment, Cleansing, Breaking and Destruction…** His interest now piqued, Aizen left the room, heading for his squads library. It was one of the additions Aizen had made when he took over the Captain role for the squad; it was received rather well by the squad as a whole and allowed him to keep some of his reference information without any ramifications. It was this information he was now heading to. After rifling through multiple old scrolls, he came across the one he needed, The Punishment and Execution Equipment Compilation. **It was here that I first thought of using the Soukyoku Stands to my advantage, how strange that I may discover something that will aid my plan yet again.**

Opening the long scroll, he scanned down the lists, looking for possible matching's to what he had thought these bands might be. He wasn't sure if he would discover what he needed, but it was an opportunity worth taking. Sure enough, he found a listing that matched the objects he now held, although the picture included showed them as brown bands compared to the coloured ones in his hands, the symbols upon the inside matched. **The Chouin Gakutaikon, how quaint, he would call them the Soul Sealing Bands, when they should be translated as the Soul Stealing Bands. They seem to be a forceful torture implement once used by Soul Society to force a confession of the individual, however all examples were destroyed 1000 years ago after legislation passed by Shigikune Genryuusai Yamamoto outlawed such brutish torture methods. So they would destroy such a small article, yet preserve the ****Sōkyoku, the ceremonial weapon of execution? That just shows the inequality of this rule imposed by the Sou Taichou. So, the bands work by forcibly removing the reiatsu of the user, slowly killing them by the decay, the more bands utilized, the more pronounced the effect. The average time it took for full removal of reiatsu for one band was a week, faster for when more bands were in use, this was a last resort method to force the confession, either they would give the information, or face a slow agonizing death.**

Aizen slowly rolled back up the scroll as he considered what he had just learnt**. That may be so for the original article, but this example I hold here definitely isn't conforming to what is said in the texts. **As a test of this, he placed one band around his arm. He felt a miniscule loss of reiatsu for a fraction of a second, but then the removal stopped.** As I thought, the reason why the band's omit a reiatsu of their own is because they have stored within them a tiny amount of Yoshirou's reiatsu, this allows them to define the difference between their intended user and other reiatsu, but I can't understand why the bands were given to him, nor how he has been able to use them without slowly killing himself. This is a complete mystery; I suppose this will have to be a second article I will research in the days ahead, I doubt he himself is fully aware of these bands, so this cannot be a plan by his hand, but if not him, then who…?**

(P.O.V change: Kira)

"You did it!" Hinamori exclaimed as she watched Kira finally master the Horin spell before her. "That's not too bad for only a few hours work, you mastered a new spell!" "Yea, but it's only like a level 9, and only with the incantation too, it still sucks." Kira replied, rather annoyed that her efforts had only rewarded her one new spell.** How does he do it? He simply needs to read about a spell and he could practically fire it straight off, I never understand how he can do this so easily.**"Kira?" Hinamori inquired, seeing that she wasn't concentrating again. "Oh sorry, I was just thinking about stuff, say can we take a break now, I'm rather tired."-Kira said, heading for the bench. Hinamori soon followed, seating herself beside Kira. **Wow, I really did a number on this area **Kira realized as she overlooked the courtyard, there were cuts and broken flagstones littering the area. "Erm, sorry about the mess I've made Momo." "Oh, don't worry about it; Aizen-Taichou is too kind to be the type to punish people just because of a few mishaps." "Oh? You really think rather highly of Aizen-Taichou."-Kira observed. She saw as a small smile appeared on her face. "Yes, he is a good man; did you know he saved my life before? When Renji, Kira and… Oh sorry! You and him share the same name don't you?" "Really? I thought Kira was a girl's name?" "Oh it is? I didn't know that… Anyway, I'll call him Izuru to save confusion. As I was saying Renji, Izuru and I were all on a training mission during the academy days when the mission went wrong, a huge hollow appeared. As we watched, the senior class members were cut down, all besides one and even he was getting tossed about like a rag doll. We tried to help him, but all we could do was distract it and run. But it didn't work, a whole lot more appeared. Just as we thought it was over, Aizen-Taichou appeared, along with Gin-Taichou, being his Vice-Captain at the time. I still remember what he said to me clearly_, You stuck it out well, you must have been scared. Everythings all right now, now you can rest and leave it to us… _He then overpowered and destroyed all of the hollows with absolutely no effort, it was amazing to see, but he still had such a peaceful expression on his face…"

Hinamori trailed off with that comment, a distant look on her face. "Wow, you really do respect him… is it more than just respect I wonder?"-Kira asked, but all she got was a light chuckle from Hinamori. "You're asking me whether I care about my Captain or not? Yes I do care about Aizen-Taichou, I care very deeply, he is the presence I feel that will always protect me and shelter me." Kira was surprised that she had gotten such an honest and open answer, after all Aizen looked a lot older than the girl who was in front of her, even she herself was older than Hinamori, if only by a tiny amount of time. **For her to say such an open answer, perhaps she loves him?** Kira thought. "How about you Kira? Don't you share any feelings for this Yoshirou you were referring to?" "Taichou? Hahaha that's a good one! That man is such an idiot, there's no way anybody could like him! He's lazy, carefree, uncommitted, unbelievably stupid and those are just a few of his faults!" However, Hinamori was now pulling a strange face; it suspiciously looked like she didn't believe a word she just heard. "Surely you need to be close to someone in order to know their faults the best? And from how you were describing him earlier, it seems vastly different compared to the list of faults you just pulled up."

Kira had no response to that. **Do I care for him? How would you define that I care for him? I want to help him, to support him and to see that he is happy, is that caring for someone? Is that what it means to love someone…? **These questions continued to plague her, when Hinamori suddenly got up. "Oh no, it's getting dark! I have a load of work to do! Sorry Kira, but I really have to go, is there anyway we could arrange to see each other again? I had a fun time today." "Sure, I'll make sure to come back here again, that's if Aizen-Taichou will let me back in after he sees the mess I made!"-Kira joked, indeed receiving a laugh from Hinamori "Well, I'll see you again another day!" With that, Hinamori practically dashed towards the barracks, busy to finish whatever she had to do. **Do I care for him then?** Kira thought, leaning back against the wall as she considered the question. **That tale that Hinamori told me… That reminds me of what happened years back to me…**

(4 Hours later, P.O.V change Aizen)

**So, in the end I could do nothing towards those bands.** Aizen mused as he walked across the grounds. **Their original purpose is deeply engraved into them, I'm surprised that anyone could modify that magic, but someone has, and for the sole purpose of being a tool for Yoshirou Kenshin, but just who has the power to do this? **As he continued, lost in his thoughts, he walked through the courtyard that he had left earlier, and stopped in surprise. There on the bench was the sleeping form of Kira Hazuki.** The girl, she is still here? She is another mystery, as to why Yoshirou chose her as his Vice-Captain, the only thing I can come up with is that he may be emotionally tangled with this girl, she had no real power, nor an attitude that could serve his purpose, the only thing that comes to mind is emotions. **Walking over to the sleeping girl, Aizen resumed his normal facial expression as he lightly shook the girl's shoulder. "Uungh, leave me alone Taichou, just five more minutes…" **What the? Seems I was right, are these two eloping?** "No, don't let the fish fly out the window…" **…no she is simply sleep talking**. "Kira, you really should wake up." Upon hearing a voice, Kira suddenly shot up, looking for the source. "A-Aizen-Taichou, what are you doing in my room?" "Sorry to say this Kira, but you seem to have fallen asleep in my courtyard."-Aizen replied. Kira's eyes seemed to grow massively in surprise. "Well, I'm afraid it is too late for you to be leaving this area, what with all the Ryoka going about nowadays, now how about staying here for the night? My 3rd seat has been accepted into hospital due to some injuries she received during a routine mission, so her room should be empty, I have no problem with you making use of it." "Th-Thank you Aizen-Taichou"-Kira sleepily replied. "There is no need to thank me, I would be a most disgraceful host if I couldn't accommodate one weary person, now follow me please."

Kira soon found herself within a small room, not much unlike her own quarters, although the flowers on the windowsill were different. **Well that was kind of him.** Kira thought as she laid back on the bed. **Why couldn't Taichou be as nice as that? He always seems so far away to me, why couldn't he be like he was back then…** Those were Kira's last thought before she slipped back into sleep, once again re-living that vivid memory from years back, the day that she was saved by him…

* * *

Well, there you have it, sorry that the ending sucked so much, and yes, I plan to create another flash back save that parodied what happened to Hinamori, I have no intentions of making it remotely the same however! After all, Yoshirou is in no way alike to Aizen, so expect a completely different scenario.

The next chapter will be up probably later today, I am already 3500 words in, truth be told these were meant to be the same chapter, but I realised people probably wouldn't apreciate slogging thru over 8000 words in one shot, so i split the chapter in two. See ya when the next chapter is up!


	11. Chapter 11 Memories

**Holy, I tried splitting this chapter and the previous up to make it easier to read, but this still ended up 7000 words+. Now this chapter is a flashback that I purely contructed and made up by myself, I figured I could show a little example of how young Byakuya was, and include a look at the younger Yoshirou. This also includes some background into the "mystery" that is starting to surround Yoshirou. Originally, this was meant to be a flashback from Kira's perspective, but it evolved into multiple perspectives somewhere along the line... ah well. On with the reading!**

* * *

(112 Years ago)

"Yoshirou, you will listen to my orders and get in the squad!" An irate man shouted at the yawning Yoshirou, while a squad of shinigami looked on the argument. "Look, I already explained it to you; I'm not coming along on this little "Introduction mission" of yours! You're only going in to do a little hunting to show the new guys the ropes, then swing back out, I am not going to waste my time on such a boring thing, I have much more I could be doing." "18th Seat Yoshirou Kenshin, you will get your ass in this squad right now, or I will have you reported!" "Fuck you, 7th seat Kuroda Masahiro, unlike you I have interesting stuff I could be doing, and judging from that approaching guy, it looks like something infinitely more interesting is coming to bail me out." Sure enough, there was a young man, although he looked more a teenager than a man, approaching the arguing pair."Yoshirou, are you starting arguments with your superiors again? I don't know why they don't just kill you and have it done with." "Cause they will just have more paperwork to fill out if they kill me." "Good enough reason I suppose."

The man named Kuroda watched these two talk for a minute before interrupting. "Sorry kid, but we are in the middle of preparing for an operation here, so you're going to have to leave." Said kid rolled his eyes before itinerating "You are going on a training mission to show the recruits behind you the field uses of kido, and to give them their first taste of encountering a hollow, yes I am fully aware of this mission you speak of, frankly I think it's a waste of time, now come on Yoshirou, grandfather has been ordered to deal with something interesting in the real world, so I thought you and I might tag along to watch." "Wait a minute! What kind of person do you think you are that you can try and override an order that I just gave you!"-Kuroda shouted at the newcomer.

"Hahaha, Byakuya he's chewing you out! I don't believe this idiot can't recognize the next head for the Kuchiki clan!" Upon hearing these words from Yoshirou, Kuroda's face lost all of its colour, he just realized he had been shouting at the grandson of one of the most powerful and revered Captains of the Gotei 13, he was as good as a dead man. "I don't really care, an idiot is still an idiot, removing one wont remove them all, now come on Yoshirou, it took me enough work to persuade grandfather to let you come along, he still is rather testy about his opinion of you since the last argument we had." "Course! Anything has got to be more fun than accompanying this idiot to the real world!" Yoshirou and Byakuya started walking away, but just before they passed the small squad of recruits fully, a hand shot out from the crowd and grabbed hold of Yoshirou's shihakshou. "Yoshirou-kun, you said you would come along when I had my first mission!" Turning, Yoshirou locked eyes with the person who had grabbed his shihakshou, it was Kira Hazuki. "Yeah I know Kira, but this is just so boring, it's a routine walk in the real world, a routine killing of a hollow, it's all too much work! Asides, this isn't your mission, your simply watching, I'll come along when it's your mission, okay?" Yoshirou started walking away before she could argue, talking to Byakuya "So what's this we going to be seeing your gramps fight?" "Oh, it's an Adjuchas class hollow." "Adjuchas? Sweet, we should see-"

Swiftly, the two men left the hearing range of Kira's ears. "…Well, it seems we won't have Yoshirou with us today. No need to worry, he is barely much stronger than yourselves, I only required him to watch you guys to make sure you didn't go wandering about. Without him I am simply going to use a basic threat to keep you kids in line: Mess about on today's mission and you will be doing laps around the outside wall of Seireitei for the next few years!"-Kuroda finished up, having felt a need to reassert his authority after having been forced to give up one person already. "Now, we shall be commencing our mission in the rural village of Karakura…"

(2 hours later)

**Wow, that was amazing!** Kira thought as she watched Kuroda finish using Konso on the soul of the young child before him. **He killed that hollow without even needing his zanpakuto! So this is the power behind hado, my own hado doesn't even compare. **"Now kids, don't forget the main principle behind the usage of your kido! You must do what you can to surprise your opponent, when your opponent is aware of what you are doing, the time it takes to say an incantation becomes a proficient weakness for the individual. In the case that you are unable to find any openings in your opponent, you should work in tandem with your team mates until one of you has the opportunity to use kido. If you find yourself in the unenviable position of fighting alone, retreat. You kid's don't have skill enough to sufficiently use your zanpakuto's to defend yourselves. Unless your opponent is a weak generic hollow you should retreat."-Kuroda said; glad to see that all of the trainees had been astounded by his skills.

"_**Well, that sounded like a rather nice lesson to the little kiddies there!"**_

**What the-? **Kira thought as everybody within the squad turned to the source of the odd reverberating voice. Another hollow was perched upon the wall nearby.** Wait, that last hollow did nothing other than roar and howl, hollows can talk? **As she watched, Kuroda changed positions, striding forward so as to place himself between the hollow and the squad behind him. "Well, it seems like you weren't listening good enough hollow! I just said the principle of combat was surprise attacks, and here you are announcing yourself!"

"_**Please Shinigami, with reiatsu as weak as the majority of those kids you have there, why on earth would I need to try and take such an advantage? The only one among you who is any threat is you, and since you were behind the kiddies, there would be no point! Now, normally I wouldn't settle for such morsels as yourselves, but you have a decent amount of power in you, and weak or not, that is a lot of shinigami you have rounded up for me to eat, and shinigami's taste so much better than humans!"**_

"Well, if you think your good enough, come and try it hollow scum!"- Kuroda roared as he charged straight at the hollow.

(Another part of Karakura Village)

**What the hell? Kuroda's reiatsu is fluctuating like wildfire…** Yoshirou thought. Ginrei had faced down and killed the Adjuchas hollow with ease, and was now unlocking a Senkaimon gate back to Soul Society. "Byakuya, can you sense that?" Byakua turned and concentrated. "…Yep, that guy from earlier right? But that was right on the edge of my reiatsu detection range, how on earth did you pick up on that passively? Are you some kind of radar or something?" "Cut the crap Byakuya, I don't like the feel of this."-Yoshirou said nervously. **I swear, nothing had better have happened to them.** "Well, I'm going back with grandfather, you can go ahead and check it out if you want Yoshirou, although I would have thought you would be avoiding that old dude? He looked like he wanted your head when we left."-Byakuya said. "Well, it seems like too much work to go searching for them, but I don't think I would be able to rest well in Soul Society if I ignore this, and if anything, I hate things that will disrupt my resting time." "Whatever, just don't go getting yourself killed on the way, grandfather wouldn't approve of you dying while in his escort."-Byakuya said dismissively. "Aww are you worried about me Byakuya?" "Get your ass moving before I shove my zanpakuto up it!"-Byakuya growled back at him.

(Back with the recruits)

**Wow, he really is good.** Kira thought once again as she watched Kuroda clash with the hollow. It seemed the hollow's claws were strong enough to repel his zanpakuto, and the hollow's scaled hide was repelling his zanpakuto, yet even these facts wasn't slowing his assault upon the hollow before him. **He can't use kido in time, since the hollow is pressuring him, so he has to use his zanpakuto instead. **"Heh, seems your body is pretty good at absorbing blows hollow! But, I can see an opening!"-Kuroda shouted, as he pinned the hollow's clawed foot under his own to stop the hollow from escaping his next blow, the hollow in desperation attacked with his arms, Kuroda dodged the first attack, but the second one dug furrow's along the Shinigami's chest. However, even this blow did nothing to stop Kuroda, he lunged forwards, striking at the Hollows exposed hairy back. The hollow screeched as the blade pierced his back, however even though it was in pain, the hollow suddenly seemed to gain confidence. It jumped back, tugging the zanpakuto out of Kuroda's hands.

"_**Bad move shinigami, I win!"-**_The hollow shouted in delight, it once again screeched in pain as it pulled the zanpakuto out of his back, but the wound suddenly closed with a white fluid akin to his mask sealing the wound. "High speed regeneration? How can a common hollow like you have that kind of ability?"-Kuroda said in surprise. _**"Who knows shinigami?"-**_The hollow replied as it took the blade between its claws… and broke it in half. "My zanpakuto! You bastard, I'm going to kill you!"-Kuroda almost screeched, he raised his hands and started chanting _"__Ye lord! Mask of blood and flesh, all creation,-"_

"_**Hah, you warn the kids about avoiding using kido when your foe is ready for it, then you go ahead and forget the rule, you're finished!"**_ The hollow said, as his claw punched cleanly through Kuroda's already injured chest. _**"The name's Creedo, curse it as you die, Shinigami!"**_ Kuroda simply twitched on the end of the hollow's claw. It took a few seconds, but it suddenly hit home on the recruits, their guardian was dead, and they were about to follow him. It was about this time that they started screaming, and running back down the streets of the village. Kira wasn't immune to this; she was also running and screaming with the crowd. **We can't die like this, we can't! This was just meant to be a training mission, why did this happen **to us! As they continued to run, reaching a junction in the road, the hollow suddenly appeared again. The panicking recruit's didn't even stop to think as they instead ran down the street to the left, it never occurred to them that if the hollow was there, they could run back down the street they came from and perhaps make their way to the rendezvous point, they just ran for their lives.

Soon enough however, they ran out of paths, and found themselves trapped in a one way path, stone walls surrounding all possible exits. As it dawned upon them that they had been led straight into a dead end, the hollow caught up with them, not even slightly tired from the chase. **Of course he wouldn't be tired! He's faster than us; he simply herded us like rats to this trap! **Kira panicked. Half of the recruits, realising the situation, turned towards the hollow, holding their asauchi in his direction as if they could scare him off with them, the others simply tied to scrabble up the walls about them, although to no avail, there was no grips on the high walls. The sight seemed to amuse the hollow as it started laughing cruelly at their vain attempts.

"_**It's no use kids, you're not the first people I've used this trick on, although I must say you're the best catch I've ever had! 12 young shinigami, what a feast! It was a pity that the strong one forced me to kill him before I could eat his soul, but you little morsels will make up for it! Now, which one shall I start with…?"**_ The hollow seemed to look around the assembled recruits, until its gaze settled on Kira. _**"Say, you smell especially good! I think I'll start with you!"**_ As the hollow slowly started to walk forward, the screams started again, even some of the recruits were praying for help, but there was something else that Kira could hear, below all of the voices was a quiet whisper, a chant. "W-Wait Hollow"-Kira shouted desperately, trying to draw the hollow's attention from noticing whoever was preparing a spell. Surprisingly, the hollow did stop, intrigued by whatever it's target was about to say. "I-If I let you take me, will you let the others go?" _**"Hah, what bravery, what self sacrifice! It almost makes me want to puke! Sorry girly, but none of you are getting out of here tonight!"**_ The hollow finished before leaping at her. **Please, let that be enough!** Kira thought desperately as she held her sword up, hoping perhaps to block him for even a second.

A shadow… Somebody had leapt off the wall, and was coming down in front of her… Some words, what was quietly whispered now finished with a roar… _"- scatter to the four winds! Bakudo no.21, Sekienton!"(_1) Suddenly, everything was clouded in a dense cloud of smoke. "Everybody, back up the road! Get out while he can't see you! There are reinforcements coming from Soul Society, they will be at the rendezvous point! Run!" Everybody was surprised at the sudden load voice coming from the clouds of smoke, but they didn't have to be told twice, immediately they started running back up the road, all except Kira, who was staring surprised at the man before her. "Yoshirou-kun! How did you get here, I thought-!" "Yeah, yeah cut the chit-chat Kira, this cloud isn't going to last long, and that hollow runs faster than you guys do, get out of here! I'll deal with him until the reinforcements come!"-Yoshirou said, turning from her as he drew his zanpakuto. "I only have to hold him off for about ten minutes, I sent the message after I spotted you guys running like hell through the streets, now get going!" "B-But that hollow killed Masohiro, you don't stand a chance against it!" "Oh he did? Great, that means more paperwork when I get back, Tessai's gonna kill me for not going with you guys, not like I could have done anything, but it would have saved my ass from the grilling it's gonna get."-Yoshirou said nonchalantly, his normal mood making a quick return after the authority he had just shown earlier. "Well, let me help! You need two people to use kido!"-Kira said, knowing that she was literally signing her death warrant, after all if this hollow could kill a 7th seat, a recruit and a new 18th seat had no hope.

Yoshirou turned and gave her a rather exasperated look. "Well, it's too late to run now, he's spotted us… Alrighty, you keep back, far back! You can try and use kido at a distance, but you have to wait for an opening, remember, I'm relying on you to be my support! Oh, one more thing, don't go telling Tessai-Taichou about this fight!" **What does he mean by that?** _**"So another one turns up huh? You shinigami, your just like bugs! Although I must say, forget those recruits from earlier, your soul looks even better!"**_ "Oh great, it speaks as well, isn't this gonna be fun? It's gonna bore me to death."-Yoshirou drawled. **Is he delaying by chatting to the hollow?** "Enough talk, lets settle this the normal way hollow." Yoshirou said as he jumped forward, ready to slash the hollow. **No, he isn't… **It quickly became apparent that Yoshirou was out matched; the hollow deftly stopped his attacks time and time again, laughing at the shinigami's attempt to hit him. _**"This is pitiful shinigami, you're even weaker than that other fool!"**_ Suddenly Yoshirou lost his balance, the hollow tried to take advantage, but Yoshirou managed to roll out of the way. _**"Well, it seems at least you can dodge well, but that's not about to save you."**_The hollow pressed the attack, and once again Yoshirou stumbled, although he managed to just about escape death a second time. **Why is he stumbling like that? I can't use my kido accurately with him messing up constantly!** Even as she watched, he fell once again, this time the hollow was on him like a flash_. __**"It's over, shinigami!"**_ the hollow shouted as its claw descended upon Yoshirou. **No!** However, Yoshirou just grinned at the hollow, then suddenly flipped back. The hollow's claw went straight into the ground, and for a fraction of a second, he was stuck. "Yep, it's over hollow."- Yoshirou stated as he drove his sword deep into the hollow's only real weak point, its back.

**No, that's what happened to Masahiro!** Kira thought as the injured hollow once again leapt out of range. Yet again it repeated the same process of removing the sword from its back. _**"Hahaha, just like the other idiot! It seems none of you shinigami have any brains in those heads of yours! Not to worry, I will eat your soul quickly, and then-"**__"-but slightly the wrath of your claws, Hado no. 33, Sokatsui!"_ The hollow was suddenly covered in a blast of blue fire, howling it stumbled about for a minute as Yoshirou looked on at the handiwork of his spell. "Seems you're the idiot hollow, seriously what kind of person starts up a victory speech while their opponent is still able to fight?" The hollow finally stopped screeching in pain, but it was now rather burnt looking. **"…heh. Hahaha, oh I see! You're only playing the idiot to make me leave openings for you to exploit! Don't worry shinigami, I shan't repeat that mistake, I'll start with this!"** Taking Yoshirou's sword between its claws, the hollow watched Yoshirou as he prepared to break the sword. However, it never expected Yoshirou to raise his hand and intone _"Hado no. 01, Sho!"_ Suddenly, the zanpakuto went flying out of the Hollow's hands. **A skip incantation spell? That's impossible! I've never seen anyone less than a 4****th**** seat use even the weakest one, yet he just used it! **Kira thought in shock.

"**You bastard."** The hollow growled in annoyance as it watched the zanpakuto fly throughout the air. "God, you really are an idiot hollow." The hollow, suddenly realising just how close the voice was, looked down, only to see Yoshirou flying right at its chest, both hands held back in preparation for his next move. "This one can't be used if your slow, since normally it would leave you open to a counter, but since you so gratefully watched my zanpakuto rather than me…" Yoshirou suddenly slammed both drawn back fists into the hollows chest. _"Sokotsu!"_ (2) The hollow was sent flying across the street, slamming straight into the stone wall and cracking it. The armoured chest of the hollow was also badly cracked, and oozing a black substance across its body.

…**Impossible** Kira thought astounded **…that hollow killed a 7****th**** seat… yet Yoshirou-kun is simply blasting it about the place like it's nothing! Delay until reinforcements come? What a joke, he's butchering the hollow! Just how powerful is he? **Yoshirou walked over to where his zanpakuto had fallen, wiping the blood off on a nearby tuft of grass, he turned to the hollow and said-"You have one chance to leave hollow, I have other things I could be doing, killing your miserable ass just seems a waste of time."

(Rendezvous point)

The recruits were dead tired; they had ran non stop from the point where their hidden saviour had appeared all the way to here, fearful that the hollow would pursue them. However, ahead of them was an open senkaimon gate with three individuals talking before it. The first one was the impressive sight of the Kido Corps captain, beside him was a slightly shorter man with sand coloured hair, wearing sandles. Lastly, there was a young person standing at the edge, even as they watched, the young person bowed respectfully to their captain, before disappearing. "All recruits, you are to proceed back to Soul Society, there are hell butterflies present to guide each of you back, I shall return soon afterwards to debrief you all."-Tessai called out to the tired squad. Reassured by the giant man's voice, they all slowly proceeded through the gate. After the last one passed between the two men, the gate closed. Sighing, the sandal wearing man turned. "So Tessai-san, what had you call me out here for today? Much as I enjoy our times together, Yoruichi is going to have my head unless I turn up on time for our practice session."

"I recently received a recruit towards my squad, although he has long hidden his prowess to me, I have heard through young Byakuya that he sensed a disturbance with the trainees, and left to try and intervene. Now, I am unsure, but from Byakuya's description, it would appear that he managed to passively sense this disturbance over a huge distance and track the source down. Also, the fact alone that he is associated with the young head of the Kuchiki family speaks volumes of him, Byakuya would not heed a person who could not keep up with him, the abilities of Yoshirou are far beyond what he has been willing to show me, and he is still very young. I also heard rumours that lead me to think he may be the wielder of "that zanpakuto"" Upon hearing this, sandal man's eyes opened wide. "You mean that kid has inherited the light element zanpakuto? I thought that sword spirit was lost long ago, after its previous owner was slain by Yamamoto-Sou-Taichou?" "Indeed Urahara-san, it was lost, but today I am here to try and ascertain the chance that it may have returned, I would wish your help in this investigation." Urahara smiled slightly at this-"Yes, I believe this would be very interesting…"

(Back at Hollow fight)

The hollow was getting back up, unsteady on his feet. However, as the two shinigami watched, the network of cracks about the hollow's body filled in with the same white fluid as before, sealing the wounds where the black blood had been flowing from. "So, you going to take my generous offer or not hollow?"-Yoshirou asked, tapping his sword blade on his leg to put emphasis in what he said. "You should be glad, you just killed a shinigami, so I should kill you without mercy, but today I'm feeling kind so you can go." **What the hell is he thinking?** Kira thought. **Is he going to just let that monster go after he killed a comrade? **However, much to her surprise, the hollow broke out in laughter. _**"So, you realise your in trouble then? Nice try to bluff me, but don't think I didn't notice, you just realised you can't beat my high speed regeneration!"**_ This drew a rather annoyed look from Yoshirou. "Seems you noticed it was a bluff, fine whatever, you can't beat me though, we are at an impasse, and reinforcements are coming for our side any minute, I still say you should clear off if you want to live." **Oh, I get it, we still can't defeat this monster. **_**"Faced with something like this, I normally would run, but don't underestimate me shinigami! I am Creedo, you can't just stop me this easily! Asides, you have a weak point… her!"**_**Huh? Me?**Kira thought, however, the hollow didn't give her time to think, it started running right at her. "Shit!_Disintegrate, you black dog of Rondanini! Look upon yourself with horror and then claw out your own throat!" _

"_**Hold it right there shinigami, or she dies!"**_**I didn't even have time to run!** Kira thought desperately as the hollows claws locked around her arm. There was no response for a second from Yoshirou, but then he exhaled, releasing the reiatsu he had pent up for his next spell. When he looked back up at the hollow, Kira was surprised. On his normal happy face was a look of such undeniable fury it was even making her slightly scared. "Release her hollow, or I swear I will send you to the gates of hell myself."-Yoshirou uttered in a low tone. _**"Gates of hell? Hah that's funny! After all if I did die, that's where I would be going anyway, in my past life I was a murderer!"**_ the hollow laughed back at him. Kira tried to get away from him, but a single claw from his other arm was suddenly brought around her throat, forcing her to stop or risk losing her head. _**"Now, shinigami, I have a generous offer for you. You see, you rather tired me out just now, and I think I had best be getting back to Hueco Mundo real soon, so I will only have time to eat one of you. My offer is this, either you can leave now, and I shall eat the girl, or you can drop your zanpakuto and I will take you instead, leaving the girl alone." **_"Lying bastard, if I give myself up, you will simply eat her as well." _**"Oh, such nasty insinuations you throw at me! My heart bleeds for your cause! Well fuck that, hollows don't have hearts, and you're not in the position to see whether my deal is a lie or not. So it's up to you; your life, or the girls." **_Yoshirou's face contorted even more in fury at the hollow, his hands clenching so hard on his zanpakuto that they started to bleed. However, he suddenly unclenched his hand, and the zanpakuto fell from his grip to the floor, his face relaxing. As she watched, he simply smiled at her. **No…** Kira suddenly felt herself flung aside as the hollow charged full speed towards the defenceless shinigami. Kira landed in a heap, but she still could see the hollow close the distance within an instance, claw raised at Yoshirou. But at the last second, she saw him wink at her.

"Scatter, Senbonzakura!" The hollow was suddenly lifted bodily from its path, and thrown directly against the wall. Another presence entered Kira's sight; it was the young teenager from that morning, the one who had scared the 7th seat so badly. "Yoshirou, I would not have thought such a hollow could easily have bested you, were you being stupid and holding back again?"-Byakuya said. "It's not being stupid, it's being careful. This damn hollow is crafty, if I let out too much, then he would have simply chased the recruits, after all he is still faster than me."-Yoshirou simply stated, picking his zanpakuto back up. **Holding back…?** "Oh, since when did you care about such things? Surely you're the one who abandoned these people to go big game watching with me?" "Shut up Byakuya, how the hell would I have anticipated a hollow strong enough to kill Masahiro would appear?" "Whatever your excuses may be, we still have a hollow to kill, now go and take care of that girl over there, I'll finish this monster off."-Byakuya stated, a pink storm of miniscule blades suddenly reforming before him, however Yoshirou suddenly gave him a kick, knocking him over. "What the hell Yoshirou? Do you really want me to kill you that badly?" "Hands off the hollow, that bastard is mine. All you gotta do is make sure it doesn't try targeting Kira again."

Byakuya looked like he was about to argue back, but suddenly saw the expression on his face. "No need, you look pissed, there's no way that hollow is escaping now." "Damn right it isn't, I don't like going all out, but this bastard deserves to feel fear before he dies for what he's done!" The hollow picked itself up from the rubble. "Damn, seems your reinforcement came in time to save you." "Not so fast you damn hollow, you're fighting me, not him!" "Heh, one shinigami or two, it's all the same, if this is all your reinforcements are, your dead brat!" However, the hollow suddenly backed away in fear as he felt an explosive increase in reiatsu from his foe. Yoshirou raised his zanpakuto up above his head. "Let in the light, Taiyoukousen!"

(P.O.V change)

"Wow, seems the rumours were right, that's definitely the light zanpakuto."-Urahara commented as he watched the scene unfold before him. Both he and Tessai were hidden underneath a kido spell that rendered them invisible to the world about them. "Different name though, and release command, also it looks completely different from the records you showed me, do you think it's the same weapon? Is it possible that two such zanpakuto existed?" "No, the light and dark zanpakuto elements have only one zanpakuto to each, there is only ever one light based zanpakuto, and one darkness based zanpakuto, it is possible that the imbalance caused by the destruction of the original light zanpakuto made a new one appear to take it's place."-Tessai replied as they watched the sword cut straight through the hollows arm, blood pouring everywhere from the stump. "*whistles* I can see why that weapon was so respected, it's a nasty little sword."-Urahara said. "No, that is only a tiny fraction of its abilities, Hi-Kiwa (3) and its ability to manipulate its own weight." "What, you're telling me that thing can vary its own cutting power and strength? Is that even possible?" "Among much more, it is easily considered one of the most powerful zanpakutos in existence, it doesn't have a pure strength like Ryuujin Jakka's huge attack power, but it can be used in every single style of combat, to risk being cliché, it is as interchangeable as light itself."-Tessai concluded.

"Well, what's to be done about it then? We both know what happened to the last weilder…"-Urahara said ominously, however Tessai shook his head. "There is something different this time, they are perfectly in balance with one another, as master and sword… no judging from the reiatsu flow, I would say they are fighting as equals. The last time the zanpakuto, Tengoku no Shibou (4), had a wielder, the balance was in havoc, both sword and master were completely unable to synchronize their souls, this lead to degradation of both individuals, and therein by the monster that the Sou-Taichou was forced to destroy in one of the greatest battles in recorded history. Tengoku no Shobou was destroyed, this new sword has no relation to that; they share the same abilities, but nothing more. There will be no need to make any moves against Yoshirou." "Aren't you just saying that because he's your favourite?"-Urahara asked. Tessai considered that for a while, before responding-"I think there is something about that man that is perhaps giving the zanpakuto a chance to express itself freely, every man is built around a core foundation, normally a zanpakuto will be chosen according to this foundation, perhaps he is the one who can become it's real weilder?" Urahara laughed at that comment. "Oh well, perhaps this will become more interesting, by the way, where did you get those records from? The Sou-Taichou destroyed all records of the man and the zanpakuto."-Urahara asked, a sly smile on his face. However he gained no reply from Tessai who was intent upon the ending of the battle before them.

"Now you bastard, you know what it's like to stand powerless as a killer approaches you."-Yoshirou said as the bleeding, gibbering hollow tried to crawl away with its remaining limbs. "How many have you killed? How many have tried to escape the same way you are now? How many have died by your hand hollow!"-Yoshirou shouted as he leapt after the hollow. _**"M-M-Mercy, shinigami, wait!"**_ the hollow pleaded, its bleeding stump held pitifully at Yoshirou. **This is almost too cruel to watch.** Kira thought as she saw Yoshirou descend upon the hollow. However, at the last second, Yoshirou withheld the last blow, stopping before impaling the stricken hollow. "So, even a hollow can have something it wants' to say before it is killed? What are your last words before I end your life then?"-Yoshirou questioned the tip of his shikai barely an inch from the hollow's quivering form. _**"Y-Y-Yes, it was…"**_ ***CRUNCH*.**

Kira screamed, as she saw the clawed arm that had been destroyed reform, and stab straight into Yoshirou's stomach. Byakuya also seemed to lose his restraint, charging forward. "STOP!"-Yoshirou roared, causing Byakuya to halt his headlong charge. The hollow laughed at the stupidity of the shinigami it had impaled. _**"Look at you, thinking yourself so high and mighty, killed because you were stupid enough to listen to your enemy! That is the difference between hollows and shinigami, we don't have a heart!"**_ "And that's why you're so pitiful hollow"-Yoshirou stated, blood leaking from his mouth as he looked down at the hollow below him. _**"Pitiful? You're the one who is going to die! How in hell am I, Creedo, the pitiful one!"**_ "Because nobody will care when you are hurt, nobody will care if you die, even now I have one person burning with the desire to help me, and another stricken at the sight of you hurting me." Yoshirou replied, his reiatsu growing in spite of the wound in his stomach. As the hollow looked, Yoshirou's eyes blazed gold; the hollow tried to pull its claws free of Yoshirou's body, but couldn't move an inch. "Even now, your death is brought about not just because you are a hollow, but because my heart tells me that I must protect that which you threaten, I may be carefree, I may be lazy, I may be even hated because of my heart, but I am more than you can ever hope to be!" Yoshirou swung his sword up, the tip touching the mask of the hollow. _"Hikari no Ken!"_ (5) As the hollow screamed one last time, the tip of the blade blazed with light, and the tip shot straight out, cutting through the mask, the body, and the stone beneath their feet.

Immediately, behind the two, a massive gate appeared in mid-air. "Seems I was right, he's going to hell."-Yoshirou muttered, before collapsing to the ground. Byakuya charged over to his stricken friend, but Kira was staring in fear at the spectacle before her. The chains about the door broke, leaving the door to open partially. Through the opened gateway, a massive arm, wielding a massive sword appeared. The sword suddenly lanced out, passing straight through Byakuya, who was helping Yoshirou up with no effect, however, she could see it impale the hollow that lied past them, shrieking in pain. The sword lifted the hollow up, passing straight through the body of the slightly surprised Byakuya. The sword and arm retreated, with a maniacal laughter coming from the portal. Hollow, sword and arm all disappeared as the gateway closed. "He he, Byakuya, you just got impaled by hell's sword, you still feeling fine?"-Yoshirou asked weakly. "Well, I could feel the immense power in the sword if that answer will get you to shut up; you're bleeding pretty badly from the wound." "Oh, I am? Must have used up too much reiatsu…" Yoshirou muttered as he passed out. "Idiot."-Byakuya muttered. Stumbling over the dead weight of his companion Byakuya shouted out-"Girl, come over here and help, you owe it to him, if you hadn't been here, he would never have gotten this injured!" "O-Of course!"-Kira stammered as she quickly got up. She ran over to the struggling Byakuya and grabbing his arm, helped him walk with the unconscious man.

About ten minutes of hobbling later, Yoshirou suddenly woke up. "Oh, hello you two, if your carrying me, I'm just gonna go back to sleep…" Byakuya promptly dropped Yoshirou, leaving Kira struggling to stop him from hitting the floor entirely. "Why are you holding onto him? He can walk perfectly fine."-Byakuya said. "B-But he still has that really bad injury!" "Yeah Byakuya, I still got this huge hole in my gut!" Byakuya visibly started to get annoyed. "Yoshirou, you will stand on your own feet or I will personally remove them for you!" "Sheesh okay, okay." Yoshirou said, surprising Kira by getting straight up from the floor. "How are you able to stand? That's not-"Suddenly Yoshirou nearly fell over again, so Kira had to stop her questions to catch him. "Oops, seems I really did lose a lot of blood, Byakuya, come over here and help me!" "I shall not, if you had just let me take over rather than fighting yourself, this wouldn't have been necessary." "Tch, he's just pissed because he didn't get to act like the big hero this time."-Yoshirou muttered. "Yoshirou-kun, why were you trying to stand up! You're still badly injured from that fight!"-Kira said to him. "Eh, simply put I can stop my own bleeding if I have my reiatsu up, it just took a few minutes after the fight before I could. After I sealed the wounds, I tried, and failed, to stand, simple enough."-Yoshirou explained. "Sorry but you're going to have to support me so we can get back." "Oh, okay…"

After a few minutes of walking in silence, Kira asked the question that had been eating her up. "Erm Yoshirou-kun, Byakuya-san said that it was all my fault that you got injured, that if I wasn't there, you wouldn't have been injured… was he telling the truth?" There were a few tense seconds of silence, before Yoshirou replied. "Byakuya had no right to say that, it was my choice that everything turned out how it did… but yes, if you had left when I ordered you to, I would have gone all out from the start to finish it quickly, since you were there, I wanted to keep my power hidden so I delayed until the reinforcements came. Also, I only stayed my hands from immediately killing that hollow when I had the chance because… I didn't want you to see me as a monstrous man who would cut down a pleading enemy, so yes; your presence caused the entire fight to go as badly as it did." **He cared about whether I would see him wrongly, and that's why he was injured…I'm such an idiot…** Kira thought as she looked at the man beside her, struggling to walk but still smiling widely at her. "So that's why you're being punished with having to help carry me! You didn't support me right in the battle, so you can support me now. Oh, that and as your superior, you're buying me lunch when we get back!" **He's not even going to punish me properly for what I've put him through? He just saved my and everybody else lives, and all he wants is for me to buy him lunch? Why…?**

They were about to reach the rendezvous point when Byakuya stopped them. "So Yoshirou, are we doing the usual?" "Yep, you're the one who saved my ass; you killed the hollow, all the normal crap."-Yoshirou said. **What?** "But Yoshirou-kun, you're the one who saved everybody!" "Nope, Byakuya just did, and if you want me to not make the next few days hell for you, you can just agree with this. Byakuya needs the credit more than I do, he has one hell of a hard time trying to live up to his old man's expectations, while I would just love to be ignored, so this system works just fine for us." "Is that so, Yoshirou Kenshin?"-a sudden newcomer said. "Ack, not Tessai-Taichou!"-Youshirou said exasperatedly. Sure enough, Tessai was now standing behind them, although where he had appeared from nobody knew, not even Byakuya had noticed, although he realized that since the man had appeared from behind them, he must have been following their progress back to the point.

"All of the recruits managed to make a safe return Yoshirou-dono, so I thought I would come back to see if Byakuya-dono had successfully rescued you. It seems he succeeded. So, today we have lost our 7th seat Kuroda Masohiro, his sacrifice to protect the recruits will not be forgotten. However, we have another pressing issue to deal with. Yoshirou Kenshin, this morning you defied orders to join the squad in this mission. While Ginrei-san has admitted to having taken you off the mission himself, I am not satisfied with your blatant disregard for orders. However, in acceptance of your attempt to protect the recruits, I am inclined to offer you the 7th of our squad, I believe that Masohiro would be honoured to see you take responsibility for your actions by taking his seat." "Aww, but Taichou, I like my seat at the moment, can't I-?" "NO DISCUSSION! I insist you take this seat, now you are to report to the squad 4 hospital to have those wounds tended to."

After much bickering and whining from his new 7th seat, Tessai watched as the collection of young people continued into the senkaimon gate. From behind him, Urahara appeared, dispelling the kido about him. "Well, well, I never expected that kid to be like that, I feel like revising my opinion towards that zanpakuto. I have to agree with you now after seeing that kid, if anybody could truly become the master of the light zanpakuto, it would be a person like him, he doesn't have the power or experience yet, and his attitude is a bit off, he reminds me of myself to be honest… although I am a lot more attractive!" "Yes indeed, he is still too inexperienced, he must be able to grow alongside that zanpakuto, with that attitude of his, he could easily neglect his training. If the will of zanpakuto and master start to conflict, this could go very badly…" Tessai thought to himself for a second, before starting again. "Urahara-san, I have an idea, but I am going to need your help…"

* * *

**Now, to first interperate the translations**

**(1) A new kido used in the manga, anime readers won't know this one. basicly, its alike a smoke bomb. However, there is no known incantation, the little bit I added sounded quite good in my opinion.**

**(2) A Hakuda technique in the manga, same as above. This one may be a bit out of place though, as the only user so far is Yamamoto, however, I figured that perhaps thats because he is the only person to show a "Power" style Hakuda rather than the normal "Speed" type Hakuda, so I thought that I could use it instead. Kinda contrasts the later Yoshirou, who uses the "Speed" type, but since he is practically learning everything, you can assume he can use both types.**

**(3) Hi-Kiwa: Light Edge. Its the basic style that the edge of Taiyoukousen takes, this will be its only reference from now on.**

**(4) Tengoku no Shibou: Heavens desire. Its the name of the original form of the light zanpakuto, thats all i'm going to say for now.**

**(5) Hikari no ken: Light Blade. This is the first technique of Taiyoukousen that can be used in battle, it features a beam of energy concentrating at the tip, before firing outwards, the beam width is about an inch, at has a cutting edge that matches the Hi-Kiwa. A weakness of the technique is that it fires directly from the tip, and at the direction the tip is pointing. If you can see this before it is used, you can guess its direction and avoid.**

**Sorry about throwing in Urahara, that guy is my favourite dude, if you didn't guess, Yoshirou is slightly based off of him, and I was desperate to show him. This is before he was a captain, yet I have him as already knowing Tessai before this point. Sorry, but as I said, I will try to keep true, but I wan't my own story, not just a copycat style.**


	12. Chapter 12 Kurosaki Ichigo

**Damn, I finally know what writers block feels like. I'm afraid updates are going to be a bit rare for a while, unless I can overcom this writers block on myself. Also, I realised my timeline might be a bit out of whack, I had said earlier that Aizen would die last night, but reading over, I realised Ichigo fights Renji before that happens, so Aizens death has been delayed a day, sorry lol. Anyhow, here is the most recent chapter**

* * *

**Ah, this sucks, I haven't felt this bad since Kyoraku made me have that drinking race with him…**

_Well what do you expect? You practically worked yourself to the bone yesterday. You even collapsed in front of your own squad, who were just as equally surprised as I am to see that you can actually work when you want to._

**Ah leave off, I do work hard!**

_At memorising scrolls and practicing spells, your physical skills haven't been practiced in ages, I'm quite surprised that your body can put up with your reiatsu flowing at such intensity for extended times, people who don't train normally can't last ten minutes._

**Well… actually you have a point there, that is rather confusing, I'm surprised myself that it could do that now I think about it, asides those five minute sparring matches I had with Soi Fon, which were rare, I don't do much work. Well, it's not like there wasn't a toll, my body is practically screaming at me!**

_That's called overworking, its natural no matter how fit you are._

**Oh well, I suppose I'm not allowed to take today off?**

_No._

**Crap, oh well lets see how far I get before my body gives up on me.**

Yoshirou sat up from his futon, his body rebelling against his every slight movement. Deciding that taking it slow would simply draw out the agony, he quickly got up and dressed in his robes.** Ah fuck this stings!**

_Look, if you quit your whining for a while, I'll see what I can do, it's probably tension from the reiatsu stress, if you can put up with the extra pain for a while, I'll try and work out the tension._

**Okay, just try and make it quick.**

Yoshirou sat down on the futon, preparing for the onslaught of pain. Sure enough, his body literally spasmed in protest as his reiatsu was forcibly fuelled through his muscles. However, true to the zanpakuto's words, the pain was only brief, and soon enough reduced to a much duller pain. Testing his muscles, Yoshirou found that they no longer hurt from every movement. They still ached, but they no longer protested against his usage of them, they were all relaxed.

**Phew, that will make today a lot more bearable, thanks Taiyou. You know, I will probably never quite get over just how linked you are to my body, but its times like these I really can appreciate it. **

_(feminine laugh) So to you I am a handy muscle relaxer am I?_

**No, that's not what I meant! Look stop laughing, I'm just trying to say thanks!**

However, it seemed that Taiyou had no intention of stopping her mirth inside his head. Ignoring the laughter emanating in his mind, he got back up, quickly dressed in the rest of his uniform and left the room. Along the way he stopped a passing person, quickly seeing it was his 18th seat, Yoshirou enquired-"Hey you seen Kira about?" "Kira Hazuki? Hrm… no I don't think I saw her this morning, she didn't return last night if I remember right, do you think that something perhaps happened?" "Naw, she probably camped over at Aizens squad, I'll go pick her up later." The 18th seat officer nodded, then went about his ways. **Well, I think I should go see Ukitake today, its best that I get this business over and done with.**

(1 Hour earlier)

(Squad 6 Barracks)

Kira Hazuki awoke to the sound of birds flying about outside. Remembering exactly where she was, she quickly exited the room, having still worn her same uniform as yesterday. "Kira?"-a relatively sleepy Hinamori asked. "How come you're here so early?" "Oh sorry, I fell asleep late last night, and Aizen-Taichou refused to let me leave, he insisted I stay the night." "Oh that explains it, well do you want to get some breakfast?"-Hinamori asked, as she pointed in the direction of the mess hall. "Oh, I'd love to."-Kira replied enthusiastically.

It wasn't for another half an hour that the two girls left the mess hall, both markedly more awake than they had been previously. "Kira, did you see Aizen-Taichou about this morning?" "Well, if you didn't see him, then I didn't."-Kira replied "Oh… Kira, could I share a secret with you?" "Sure, go ahead." "Well… recently I noticed that the actions of the 3rd squad have been rather strange. They don't seem to be patrolling in their normal patterns. Also, I heard from Aizen-Taichou that Gin-Taichou was in trouble for having let the Ryoka go… I just thought I'd say it to you, perhaps you can warn Yoshirou that they may be intending some kind of trouble?" "Oh okay, but I doubt he would care to be honest, Taichou is a bit hot-headed sometimes, he probably would ignore any warnings I gave him."-Kira replied, imagining the exact words that Yoshirou would have said if she told him the warning. _"Ah who cares?" _"Well, it's been nice having you around, I have to try and find Aizen-Taichou now."

"Find who, Hinamori-kun?"-Aizen said as he approached the two girls. "Aizen-Taichou! Sorry, I was just worried that I hadn't seen you around."-Hinamori said, a small smile shining on her face as she looked upon the captain. "Well, no need to worry; I just had some paperwork to sort out. Ah, Kira, did you sleep well last night?" "Y-Yes Aizen-Taichou, but I should really be getting back to my squad now." "Ah, but there may be a meeting you should attend, Hinamori-kun has already been asked to attend, I have no doubt there will be a message for you back at the barracks. I believe it is a de-breifing for the Vice-Captains, and as the prospective Vice-Captain of the Kido Corps, you are probably required to make an appearance too."-Aizen notified the two girls before him. "Kira, you're a prospective Vice-Captain?"-Hinamori asked her, surprise registering in her voice. "Then that would make that Yoshirou the prospective Captain right? No wonder you keep calling him Taichou!" "Yeah, b-but Aizen-Taichou, I thought that was meant to be a secret?" Aizen's eyes seemed to widen slightly at his mistake. "Ah, yes you are indeed right, but I'm afraid there are very few secrets kept in my squad, I always feel the need to divulge any necessary information, it is another way to build trust within your squad, since no secrets means no need to lie."-Aizen confirmed, a small smile showing in ways of apology. "Now, you two should probably be heading off for the meeting."

(3 Hours later (2 Hour past starting time))

**Why is it I can sense a reiatsu source beneath my feet? I know that the squad 4 guys clean the sewers below, but this reiatsu feels a tad strong for a squad 4 member… No wait, I'm sensing this through a lot of solid rock, this must be a rather large source of reiatsu to penetrate this far.** Yoshirou pondered as he stopped along his way to the squad 13 barracks. **What on earth could be down there?**

_Perhaps one of the Ryoka?_

**Heh, it's possible, but if there is, he's a dead man, not even I would dare try and negotiate the sewers, only the squad 4 members know those routes. I'm half tempted to go report this, perhaps it would be better that he was captured by the squad 4 guys than keep wandering about in the sewers and eventually starve to death down there… Looks like Ukitake is going to have to wait, getting this stupid Ryoka out of the sewers takes precedent, looks like his journey is going to end now. **Yoshirou thought as he changed directions to go to the Squad 4 barracks instead. Using his newly acquired shunpo skill, it only took five minutes to arrive at the barracks.

_Can the fourth squad handle a man with reiatsu of that level?_

…**No they probably couldn't, but whoever it is probably knows that he is sunk if he doesn't get a guide, he will probably come quietly. Asides, if necessary I'll go with them, don't worry, it will sort itself out by the end.**

Yoshirou looked about the half empty barracks, before he spotted a man with glasses sitting by himself, deciding that he would do, Yoshirou walked over, but before he could even reach him, the man suddenly got up and walked out of the room. Frustrated, Yoshirou noticed that the man had left a book behind on the desk. Bored, he decided to have a glance at the open page.

_How frustrating that the idiot known as Hanatarou had to go and get himself captured by the enemy, he could have just gotten himself killed, but instead he had to let himself be used as a hostage! Now thanks to his absence, I, Yasochika Iemura, have had to put up with the additional…_

**A diary? Never mind that, Hanatarou was captured by the Ryoka? Why on earth would… shit… fuck it, I told that kid to not do anything drastic!**

_What do you mean Yoshirou?_

**He's not captured, he's working with them! That's how the Ryoka got in the sewers, he's guiding them! That bastard, why in hell is he risking himself like this? I told him to leave it alone!**

_Well to be fully honest Yoshirou, we haven't exactly met with any success in our attempts, after all Byakuya is determined to follow the law, so he won't come to that Rukia's aid, the boy probably thought that he was the only one who could help them…_

**Shit, I have to get in contact with them, that idiot is going to get himself killed if he's discovered! I can't use that contact spell to the sewers, I purposefully memorized that Ishida's reiatsu so I could contact him, but I never did the same for Hanatarou! Can you track them from the ground?**

_No, we barely managed to detect them when we were right on top of their location, detecting them will be purely by luck… or not, I think that is his reiatsu I'm sensing now!_

**Good, have you got a lock on its direction?** Yoshirou thought as he ran out of the barracks

…_due North-East, not much farther than where we detected the large reiatsu but hurry! Somebody has already found them! I think it's that Abarai Renji!_

**Shit! It's gonna take us 5 minutes either way, lets hope nobody else is aware of their encounter!** Yoshirou thought as he started to shunpo in the direction he had come from. **We have to hope that I didn't overestimate that second power, let's hope he can hold out before we get there!**

**(5 minutes later)**

**We got here!** Yoshirou thought as he appeared at the location. The entire area was a mess, rubble piled everywhere. **Where are they?** Suddenly, Yoshirou felt a massive hit as something tackled him to the ground, trying to force him down. "I got him! Quick Hanatarou, I have some rope in my backpack, get it out!" **Hanatarou? Seems I was right.** Yoshirou thought as he looked at whatever had tackled him. A rather ugly looked guy in green livery was literally sitting on his chest like an oversized toad. "What the hell! Get off of me you ugly bastard!" "What was that? You have no right to call me… shit he's another pretty boy like that last bastard! Why in hell do all you god damn shinigami have to look good!"-the man literally bellowed in his face. **Fuck this.** Yoshirou punched upwards, landing a decent hit on the ugly man's face, much to his credit the man didn't drop, instead returning fire on Yoshirou. "Hah, ain't no pussy among you shinigami who can match a Shiba clansman in a brawl!" "G-Ganju-san, please stop, this man isn't an enemy!" "Huh?"-the man named Ganju exclaimed, pausing for a second. That proved to be his undoing as Yoshirou got a foot down, and lifted both himself and ugly man into the air with one kick. With a quick backflip, Yoshirou landed back on his feet, while Ganju face-planted the nearest boulder. "Ganju-san!" the nearby Hanatarou exclaimed, running over to the fallen man.

Now Yoshirou had a free second to look about, he noticed what was standing at the centre of the destruction, staring right back at him were two men, one of them was indeed the Vice-Captain of Byakuya's squad, Renji. The other man seemed to be the owner of the large reiatsu that Yoshirou had sensed earlier, an orange haired shinigami with a body length sword. "What the, another shinigami?" Ginger said exasperatedly. As Yoshirou looked at him, he realised that the Ryoka was in trouble, there were numerous cuts all over his body, and a particularly nasty gash across his shoulder that was leaking blood everywhere. His opponent on the other hand, seemed relatively untouched, if not covered in dust. "Yoshirou, you stay out of this! This is my fight!" Renji bellowed from across the field, quickly closing the gap between him and Ginger, slashing downwards. Ginger barely managed to get out of the way before the two men were hidden behind a dust cloud from the resulting explosion of debris.

**Fuck, he isn't holding back at all, Ginger's going to lose this.**

_That is the man Rukia was talking about, Kurosaki Ichigo!_

**What, how can you tell?**

_Hanatarou didn't explain much about what he looked like to you right? Rukia told me more, a young teenage man, bright orange hair, a permanent scowl across his face, and an enormous zanpakuto. That man fit's the description! But from what I heard, he lost all of his powers at the hand of Byakuya, how come he is here, let alone with his powers intact?_

**Does it matter? He's lost; Renji is too strong for him. Fuck it all, I didn't make it in time. I can't intervene, or I risk discovery and the end of the Kido Corps if I do.**

"Erm, Yoshirou-san, what are you doing here?"-Hanatarou asked tentatively. Yoshirou scowled at him, making the boy jump, before resuming his normal expression. "Dumbass, I came to try and talk you out of this stupid venture of yours. I have nothing against the Ryoka, they can do what they want, but you were being stupid trying to help them. What do you think would happen if you were discovered. Stuff that, you have been discovered! And by Vice Captain Abarai Renji no less!" "Oh, is that the pineapples name?"-Ganju gruffly said, apparently he didn't hold it against Yoshirou that his face was even worse than before, he seemed too distracted by the fight going on behind them. "Jesus, we just keep running into monster after monster. Hey, if that guy's a Vice Captain, what does that make you?" Yoshirou considered his answer for a second then went for the easier one "A 3rd seat." "Oh, Ichigo already beat a 3rd seat earlier, you shouldn't be any hassle."

Across the battlefield, something seemed to be happening, the guy called Ichigo had just barely blocked Renji's shikai, but something seemed a little different about his stance. As Yoshirou watched, Ichigo went on the offensive, Renji striked out with his shikai, but Ichigo just about dodged it, continuing charging in. Renji once again tried to hit him, but Ichigo dodged under the extending blade, not stopping. Renji attacked one more time, which Ichigo managed to parry**. I see, hes going for the moment Renji has to stop his shikai movement!** Renji returned his shikai to its hilt, when Ichigo leapt at him, determined to cut him down. **No, he's too slow!** Surely enough, Renji dodged the blow, hacking down on Ichigo's shoulder. **Shit, it's over.** Yoshirou watched as Renji started lecturing the panting man. "Understand now? You can't save Rukia." Renji said. He then raised his blade for the final blow. **What the hell, he's going to kill him!** Yoshirou thought, drawing his zanpakuto.

Renji slashed downwards, but Yoshirou had gotten under the blade, stopping it an inch before it cut through the recumbent Ichigo. "What do you think your doing Renji! We are under orders to capture the Ryoka, and kill if it isn't possible, he's defeated, there's no need to kill him!" "Move it, you don't understand! It's his fault! It's all his fault that Rukia is going to die!" **What? **"He stole her power's from her! If Rukia had never met him, she wouldn't be going through this hell!"** How are Rukia and Renji related? Why is he impeding them if they want to save her? **However, Yoshirou suddenly felt a blast of reiatsu from behind him. Turning around, he saw that Ichigo was back on his feet, his sword over his shoulder.** What the- **However, in the second Yoshirou had his back turned to Renji, he suddenly grabbed his Shihakshou and threw him into the rubble. Yoshirou was back up in a second, but the sudden aura that seemed to surround Ichigo had him hesitate to return to the fight.

"I know it's my fault Renji, and that's why I'm going to save her." **He's still going to fight like that?** "I've made you wait Renji, here's my resolve." As Yoshirou watched, Ichigo's eyes suddenly started glowing blue. "This time, I really will cut you!"**…lame line **Yoshirou thought, but a sudden wave of reiatsu started flowing from Ichigo, enough to even impress Yoshirou's senses. **How could he have that much power? He's barely been a shinigami for a few months. Well, with this it seams' the fight is over. **As everybody onlooked, Ichigo leapt into the air, Renji tried to hit him, but Ichigo deftly dodged in mid air. As Ichigo landed, Renji swiped at him, but Ichigo braced his sword against the blow, and after a few seconds of clashing, whipped his sword downwards, forcing Renji's sword aside. He then raised his zanpakuto up high, and it started glowing, making a weird eerie noise, as if it called out to its opponent. "If I'm attacking, I'll cut you!" "You-"-Renji started saying, bringing his sword back up to attack, but Ichigos zanpakuto ripped downwards, slicing straight through zanpakuto and body. A sudden burst of reiatsu hurled Renji across the field and into a stone slab that had been upturned during the fight.

**What was that?** Yoshirou thought. **How can somebody just increase their reiatsu from nowhere? That seemed almost as if the resolve to defeat his opponent increased his power**!

_Yes, it was. Don't you remember? You did the exact same thing years back on that day, your will to protect them increased your power, and mine._

**So the will of the heart increases your power? How strange…**

Suddenly, Renji, despite his awful injuries, seemed to try and get up. "Thinking back now… I might've just been scared…Geezus… The stray dog in me is dyed into my bones…I'm getting sick of it." **What is he trying to say? **Yoshirou thought as Renji struggled to his feet. "All I do is howl at the stars… I ain't got the guts to jump at them." He suddenly stumbled across the courtyard, and grabbed Ichigo's shihakshou. "It's your fault Rukia got put in the Shrine of Penitence! When I thought of that, my insides began to boil… But…That's not it! It's because I didn't stop her! Back then I…didn't tell her to go to the Kuchiki clan so she could become a death row prisoner. I thought she could be happy there. I believed that! I… wanted to surpass Kuchiki-Taichou. Ever since that day…I trained every single day like a man possessed to catch up to him. But I…still haven't beaten him once. He's too far. Taking Rukia back by force… was beyond my ability! Kurosaki, I know this is shameful, but I'm begging you! Rukia…save Rukia!" Ichigo looked at him in surprise, before quietly responding "You got it."

…**seems the will of the heart doesn't only change your power…**

Renji then collapsed in front of Ichigo, Ichigo sighed, before his own zanpakuto fell from his grip, and he fell alongside his foe. "Ichigo!"-Ganju shouted, before running over to the downed shinigami's side. "Hey Ichigo! Answer me! Ichigo!" Yoshirou however was stopped by his senses picking up something else "No time for that, we have a company of shinigami coming, and I think there's one…no make that two Vice Captains among them, you had better get him moving!"-Yoshirou said. **Shit, I think that's Kira's reiatsu among them. What do I do? **Back over at Ichigo's side, Ganju lifted Ichigo's body up and started running, but Hanatarou was nearly tripping over under the weight of the huge shikai. **Fuck, there's no choice, I just have to hope we clear out of here before Kira can pick up on my reiatsu!** Running over to Hanatarou, he quickly relieved him of the sword before asking. "Hanatarou, which direction do we go?" Hanatarou looked at Yoshirou with a surprised look in his eyes, before indicating past the nearby building. **Goodbye halcyon days…**

(2 minutes later)

**That's odd, I'm sure I sensed Taichou's reiatsu for a second** Kira thought as she picked her way through the rubble. **What could have made such a horrible mess of this place?** "Everybody, over here!" a voice called out. Kira ran over, before seeing the bloody sight that was before her. A man, barely alive yet covered in blood was among the rubble. "It seemed his opponent has escape, shall we pursue?" one of the shinigami squad said to the leader of the squad, Vice-Captain Izuru. "…no, right now we should make Abarai-kun's treatment our first priority. Get a stretcher; we shall transport him to the relief centre right away." The man then turned to Kira and said-"Will you notify Kuchiki-Taichou of the situation?" "Yes…"-Kira answered, still shocked at the scene before her. **Why could I sense Taichou's reiatsu here?**

(10 minutes later)

"Healing ability? You mean you don't use medicine or something for first aid?"-Ganju inquired to Hanatarou. Yoshirou was pretty much annoyed by the place they were in. Not only was it dark, the air smelled stale, it wasn't that this sewer had anything bad flowing through it, but the air didn't seem to flow so well. "No, it's different with us, other shinigami's reiryoku is geared towards combat use, but we in the 4th squad have healing abilities with our reiryoku. We can't do much else though"-Hanatarou explained. "I see, I see… so how does Ichigo's condition look to you?" "It's terrible, he took direct hits from a Vice-Captains zanpakuto after all, so it's to be expected. Ordinarily he would have died instantly. He has an unbelievable will to live." Can't argue with that Yoshirou thought, I've seen men die from less than what that guy's been hit with. As he looked, Ichigo was drawing haggard breaths, his face distorted in pain. His torso was a mess, two huge gashes cut across it. Yoshirou knew he could survive worse, but he had the aid from his zanpakuto to stop the bleeding, this guy had nothing. "I will heal it, give me time, I will heal him in one night." **One night?** Yoshirou thought, watching Hanatarou commence his work. **I don't think he has one night left in him.** "Here, lemme try Hanatarou." Yoshirou offered. "Yoshirou-san? But aren't you a combat type?" "Combat type my arse"-Ganju laughed from the corner "I could have beaten him easily." "N-No, your wrong Ganju-san, he blocked a direct blow from Renji-fukutaichou's zanpakuto without shifting an inch, he is much stronger than you think"-Hanatarou said. This drew a surprised look from both Ganju and Yoshirou. "I wouldn't have thought you observant enough to notice that kind of detail Hanatarou. Anyway, my reiryoku is a little unique, it's adaptable to anything I want, healing spells are also a cinch for me, I was actually taught them by Unohona-san" "Well, if you want to try, after all I don't have enough reiatsu to heal all of them."

Moving aside, Hanatarou let Yoshirou position himself beside Ichigo's recumbent form. "He look's real bad Hanatarou, it might take a while longer than I'm used to." As Hanatarou watched, Yoshirou's hands started to glow green, but then golden. Surprised, Hanatarou grabbed Yoshirou's hands. "No Yoshirou-san! You can't just put raw reiatsu into somebody, you can kill them!" "Look calm down, I know what I'm doing, I've had a lot of practice, combining this technique into a healing spell should reduce the time it takes to heal him, it will also let him get some proper rest." Hanatarou looked worriedly at Yoshirou, but in the end released his hands. Yoshirou repeated his attempt, this time without any interruptions from Hanatarou, and placed his hand's over Ichigo's ruined torso. **All right, here we go…**

(Ichigo's Soul World)

**So, this is what his world looks like huh?** Yoshirou thought as he walked along the sky scraper's walls. **I haven't ever seen a world like this, most the one's I enter have been based on old Japanese places, this ones rather modernistic, suppose that's what happens when you wander into a human shinigami's world.** As he looked about the bleak place, he spotted what he had come for, a tall man stood atop a pole, watching the clouds swirl in the sky. **Huh, it's a human one just like mine**. "Hey zanpakuto! I need to talk for a minute!"

_Speak then, intruder_

"No need to be rude, I'm trying to help your master after all, by the way you got a name I can call you?"

_Zangetsu_

"Zangetsu? Cool name, I need you to release the kid's reiatsu source, I know you sealed it the moment I intruded, don't worry about anything, I only seek to try and heal him, you know he's in one helluva bad shape at the moment."

_I cannot release the seal_

"Why not?"

_There is a second presence here that would consume his soul if I released the seal in his current state, I cannot let that happen._

"Oh crap, this kid has something hiding in him?"

_Yes, when you leave, take a look inside his shihakshou, over the largest wound, you will see the answer as to what is inside him._

"Ah man, look's like healing him is going to take a lot longer."

_How did you enter this world, shinigami?_

"Huh? Just the normal way I do, I release my reiatsu into the body of the target, control the reiatsu until it reaches the Hakusui, enter the inner world, ask the resident zanpakuto for help, they unlock the Saketsu for a while, nearly increase healing time about 20 times as fast."

_That is possible for a shinigami?_

"It's possible with the help from my zanpakuto"

_What is the name of your zanpakuto?_

"Taiyoukousen"

_Then it is not the one I thought of, you may leave._

"Huh, you thought of what-?"

Yoshirou found himself back within his own body, staring down at Ichigo again. **What did he mean by that?** Yoshirou thought as he summoned his reiatsu once again. **The one he thought of? Thought of what? **He once again placed his hand, now showing the usual green flow of reiatsu upon his target's chest, but this time rather than try his previous idea, he directed his reiatsu towards each of the wound's in turn, halting the bleeding and numbing the senses of the destroyed tissue. Immediately Ichigo's breathing seemed to relax, and he started drawing normal breaths again. **Well, now he's not in any immediate danger, I can just close the wound's the normal way. **"Hanatarou, it seemed my idea didn't work out quite right, but I've removed the risk of him dying on us, could you help me just seal the wounds?" "Um, can I ask what you did? I've never seen somebody in such a state suddenly relax as though they are healed already, did you tranquilise him or something?" "Naw, it's a little trick Unohona taught me, instead of trying to restore the reiatsu of the target, you place your own reiatsu in its place as an emergency method, it completely stabilises the target's body as long as the internal damage isn't too bad. It can't be attempted by people like you I'm afraid, you need at least captain level reiatsu to maintain the flow properly."

This got a guffaw of laughter from Ganju. "Hahaha! Oh yes, I'm really going to believe that you have captain class reiatsu, you already said you're a 3rd seat!" this comment got a laugh in turn from Yoshirou. "Ganju, you really are a clueless idiot, yes I am a 3rd seat but I am also a prospective Captain, with the approval of 6 other Captain's behind him, just thank god that I was on your side, I mightn't remain that way, I have an obligation towards those I must protect, and even if you think me evil for it, you guy's are second towards my own squad."-Yoshirou said darkly, reminding everybody present that he was not part of their little buddy group. However, this had the opposite effect on Ganju, who laughed even harder "And you think we are the idiots? You're here healing one of the greatest threats for Soul Society at the moment!" "Yeah don't remind me"-Yoshirou growled. However, even if these guy's were Ryoka, even if being with them endangered him, he couldn't just sit by and pretend nothing had happened. For better or for worse, he was going down with these Ryoka. **Kurosaki Ichigo, one man against all of Soul Society huh? Ah well, for the record it sound's like this will at least be interesting.**

Remembering the message that Zangetsu had told him, Yoshirou said "Hey Hanatarou, my hands are tied at the moment, can you check that massive wound of his?" Hanatarou quickly and carefully pulled back the material over the wound. "It looks horrible, I'm glad the blood has stopped flowing, but it still looks…what is this?" Yoshirou looked over at the white object that Hanatarou had pulled out. It was a Hollow mask.

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**Well thats it for now, I dunno when the next chapter will be up, it could be normal times it could be a week, i really dont know. As always please review!**


	13. Chapter 13

**Wow, this story gets soo little notice unless I keep on updating it, seems you guys don't have it on any favourites or anything. Ah well, I finally beat my writers block this morning, but it practically sealed again right after I finished this. By the way, sorry for the sudden change in the storyline, I realised that it's gonna create plotholes unless I carefully follow this through, so thats why it suddenly changed back to no Ryoka contact. Also sorry for the timeline error, it has now been corrected, Aizen will die tonight *mwuhaha* *ahem* anyway, on with the shiny new chapter!**

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"You really are leaving then?"-Ganju asked. "Yep, I just realised I can't afford to stay around, the Sou-Taichou loves to randomly call captains meetings, and it just takes the one time, and I will be discovered as missing. If that happens, I can say goodbye to my squad. That and I don't want that Kurosaki kid knowing I was here, last thing I need is to have to babysit this Ryoka through his little tirade. Don't worry, I have no intention of revealing where you are, and I will try to keep an eye out for you when I can. Don't forget, you can't trust anyone in this place, not even me. Next time we meet, I may indeed be forced to end your escapade, just remember that."-Yoshirou warned, getting a nervous look from Ganju. Hanatarou however, seemed to accept everything Yoshirou said without worry. "So, what do we tell Ichigo-san when he wakes up?" "Just tell him what you want, he probably won't care." Yoshirou said as he prepared to climb up the ladder. "Now if you don't mind, I need to have a wash at my own squad, see you all around!"

As Yoshirou escaped from the sewers, smelling the fresh air about him, he checked the nearby reiatsu sources. **Seems they already moved Renji, I just hope he doesn't go telling anybody he saw me in that fight, it could raise some questions I can't answer so easily. Well, most likely there will be some kind of meeting held regarding the fact that Renji was defeated, so if there was a meeting called, the message would be back at my own squad.** Yoshirou decided as he headed in the general direction of his own squad.** I wonder whether Kira noticed my presence or not back there…**

(Squad 6 Barracks)

Kira was feeling especially nervous as she entered the barracks, after all it had been nearly a century since she had last met Byakuya, and judging from the injury Yoshirou had received the other day, he wasn't the obnoxious teenager that she remembered anymore. **It doesn't help that I'm coming to tell him that has Vice-Captain was defeated, he could get very angry…**

It didn't take long to find Byakuya, it seemed that every day he would be found walking the courtyard at this time according to the young unseated officer she talked to, Rikichi. The problem was, summoning the courage to talk to the man. However, as she worried, Byakuya seemed to notice her presence. "What is your business here?"-Byakuya said. "E-Erm, Byakuya-Taichou, I've come to make a report on the condition of Renji-Fukutaichou. As of earlier, he engaged the Ryoka, however he was defeated, and badly injured in the process." There was no reply for a second, before Byakuya simply said "I see". He then continued along his walk, as if this information held no importance to him. "Erm, Byakuya-Taichou! I think I said he was badly injured in the battle and-" "What of it?" …**huh?** "If he went into battle alone, then defeat was unacceptable, the fact that he survived means nothing, he is useless to me." Kira was stunned. How can he simply dismiss him like that? Byakuya simply turned and continued on his way.

**He's changed a lot, I was sure he was never so dismissive of people in the past**… Kira thought…**well I suppose there's nothing I can do about it, I had best get back to Taichou, after all Hinamori told me that thing about Gin, even if he ignores me, I should tell him anyway**… Kira thought as she made her way back to the entrance of the Squad six barracks, doubts eating away at her mind, how a man could be so cruel, what the Ryoka were that they could take down a Vice-Captain…and why she held doubts towards her Taichou's intentions.

(2 Hours later) (Kido Corps)

Yoshirou was once again back in the training room, trying to perfect his new technique, albeit this time he was only practicing repeated movements, rather than his high speed sparing he had the other day. **Well, seems I was worrying a bit too much about the meeting being called, nothings happening yet. Also seems Kira must still be out, why was she on a search team anyway? That nearly had me in a lot of trouble. **Yoshirou pondered as he once again started his little obstacle course he had set up. It was relatively simple, just a number of stands dotted around the room in a random pattern, however in application it was quite difficult, as landing atop each stand without disturbing it took some very good timing, he had already slipped and fallen on his backside at least twenty times, if not much more. There was also the challenge of using a different path each time; it had rather amused the weaker squad members to see their leader fall over again and again as he practiced. **Good** he thought **that will show them that even if you're good, you're not invincible.** His muscles still ached considerably from the punishment that he had put them through yesterday, and this new training wasn't helping the pain either. **But I have to get this learnt** Yoshirou thought as he found himself on his back again, he thought he had got the timing right, but it seemed his practice was paying off in term's of increasing his distance, he had overshot and collided with the wall. **I think I hurt something on that one** Yoshirou thought as his vision was disturbed. A familiar face seemed to look over him. **Oh great, last person I wanted to see me flat on my ass…**

"Heyo Taichou, what's this you're practicing?"-Kira inquired, her face showing some amusement in the situation Yoshirou was in. "You picked a bit of a strange place to have a rest; normally you sleep in the garden Taichou." "Ah, shut it, if you haven't realised yet, I'm not lying down cause I want to, it's just those damn stars wont stop floating before my eyes." This got a laugh from Kira, as she offered her hand to help him up. Taking her up on the offer, Yoshirou grabbed hold and managed to get up without overbalancing.** Crap, I really did hit that wall hard, I hope there isn't going to be any imprint in it, that's just what I need, repair bills. **"So, what have you been up to since I last spotted you?"-Yoshirou enquired, hoping that he might be able to discover if he had remained unnoticed this afternoon or not. "Ah, since you told me about that offer with Aizen-Taichou, I went over to the Squad 6 Barracks and met Momo and she taught me some more on Bakudo control." Yoshirou looked slightly confused at Kira, until she realised her mistake "… err that's Hinamori-Fukutaichou, Aizen-Taichou's Vice Captain, she said it was okay for me to call her Momo." "Ah yeah, that young girl whose always tagging around with him!"-Yoshirou realised. "So, you want to show me your new skills then?" "Maybe later Taichou, after that, I'm sorry I didn't return to the barracks, I kind of fell asleep after training until it was too late to-" However Kira found herself interrupted by Yoshirou, who had broke out laughing on the last comment. "Taichou!" "Sorry, sorry, just that was rather funny, falling asleep at Aizen's place, I'm sure there's some hidden joke in that!"

"Well he's a nicer person than you at least!" Yoshirou suddenly clasped his hands to his chest groaning. "Oh, I'm mortally wounded by the cruel things you say! And asides, you wouldn't think so highly of him if you knew he was one of the guy's who opposed making me captain, he could have been responsible for dissolving our squad if we hadn't been lucky! He's probably feeling guilty and trying to compensate by letting his Vice Captain teach mine." **That seemed to strike home, judging from her expression.** "A-Anyway, I ended up staying at the squad-. " However, another interruption from Yoshirou stopped her explanation halfway. "AND YOU STAYED THE NIGHT! Hahaha, this is just too easy to poke fun at!" Kira seemed to be losing her patience though, so Yoshirou promptly shut up, lest she start another shouting fit like last time.

"As I was saying, I ended up staying the night there. Then this morning, I had to attend a Vice-Captain meeting, it was terrible. Apparently the Ryoka have beaten a large amount of Shinigami already, the 11th squad has been decimated almost to the last man. The only people from that squad still active are the Captain and Vice-Captain." **Ah, that must mean that the 3****rd**** seat Ganju spoke of was from the 11****th**** Division.** "Also, one of the gatekeepers was overwhelmed earlier by them. As of now they have confirmed three Ryoka, two of them have also captured a 4th squad person." **Well, two of them must be Kurosaki and Ganju, but who's the third? If they have confirmed three, it means Mayuri hasn't reported the appearance of the other two, that Inoue and Ishida, what in hell could he have planned? **"Anyway, following that I went off with Momo, but it turned out that Abarai-fukutaicho had gone missing, by the time we tracked his location down, he had engaged the Ryoka, and had been subsequently defeated by them." Yoshirou waited for any indication that he had been discovered, but Kira quickly continued her description without even mentioning anything. "Afterwards, I reported to Byakuya-Taichou what had happened to Renji-fukutaichou, then returned here." "Hrm, well that's good." A thought suddenly occurred to Yoshirou "Hey do you have my bands on you? I might see if they work well with this training." Kira reached into her uniform to retrieve something, but then pulled a surprised expression "Oh, I left it with Aizen-taichou!" "Damn, that's annoying, well you had best go and get em then!"-Yoshirou ordered her. Kira went to leave when another thought occurred to him"Wait a sec Kira"-Yoshirou interrupted.** It's better she knows theres five of them, I don't want her getting caught by accident. **"I encountered two other Ryoka yesterday, they sure didn't seem to be dragging a 4th squad person around, so bring that total to five"-Kira's face registered shock at this information "Theres two more? When did you encounter them? Why didn't you report it Taichou? How come you were defeated?" **Crap, didn't think she'd start asking questions.**

However before Kira could get any answers out of Yoshirou, a sudden appearance of a Hell Butterfly stopped the conversation. _"Captain's meeting at squad 1_." Just as sudden as it appeared, the butterfly left. "Well that message was a lot shorter than the last time a hell butterfly contacted me, must be a generic message sent to the captains rather than the instructions I got last time."-Yoshirou muttered to himself as he made for the room exit quickly saying "No need to worry about the bands after all, there's a meeting been called, I'll get them from him there". However, he didn't manage to get far before a tentative hand caught hold of his wrist. Turning around, he noticed that Kira had decided to stop him. "Taichou, can't you just answer before you leave?" "*sigh* Okay, it was during the time I went for my training. I was defeated because they were damn sneaky, knocked me back and escaped before I got up, I dunno what kind of technique the boy used, but it was bloody fast, rivals shunpo at the least, that also explains why I started learning shunpo, so that it doesn't happen again. Lastly, I didn't report it because I wasn't the only person there. Mayuri also saw the fight, and he also didn't move to intervene, he has some plan involving them, after all he didn't report them either, it's best we keep quiet if he is involved, after all god knows what kind of experiment he could put you in if you stuffed up his plans." **There, that should suffice, it's all part true in a roundabout way, only lie hidden in there is that I started learning shunpo because it's useful, not to combat the Ryoka.**

Yoshirou turned to leave, but realised that Kira had yet to relinquish her grip. "Kiraaaa, I'm going to be late, the Sou-Taichou will have my ass if I don't get there in time!" "Yoshirou-kun…" That got his attention immediately.** What the hell? She hasn't called me that in decades… **"Earlier, when I arrived at the place where Renji fought the Ryoka, I sensed your presence there… is there something you're not telling me…?" **Shit… **Yoshirou was at a loss for words, however that was the worst response possible, as Kira's eyes showed understanding at the silence. Yoshirou once again turned to leave, saying "I will explain myself when I get back." However, just as he was about to exit the room, he heard Kira call out-"Yoshirou-kun, don't forget. We are the Kido Corps, and you are our Taichou, we will stand by you no matter what you choose…" Yoshirou just kept on walking, both feelings of happiness at her kind words and guilt for putting everyone he should be protecting at risk waging war in his head.

_Don't regret your choices now Yoshirou, if your heart wavers, even in the slightest, you will lose this high risk bet you have made, you must hold strong to whatever choice you have made._

**I know… man, how bad are thing's when I'm being comforted by both my zanpakuto and the person I am throwing into trouble? Your right, but in more than one sense. If my heart shows I am wavering before Yamamoto, I'm a dead man.**

**(Squad 1)**

Once again, it seemed that Gin was running late as Yoshirou entered the large room. "Yoshirou Kenshin, it is good that we have a chance to talk before the meeting begins, there is something I must discuss with you."-Yamamoto said upon seeing his entry.** What could he want? It can't be that he's discovered me or I would be in irons already. **Yoshirou thought as he proceeded past the chatting captains and bowed towards the Sou Taichou. "This is a formal warning towards you Yoshirou Kenshin." **A warning?**

"Reports have been given that suggest you have been acting too freely as of late. It has been confirmed that twice you have been using excessive amounts of reiatsu without purpose, and once that you have even released your zanpakuto. Your first offence caused much trouble, as we had a problem with many unseated shinigami suffering from the force of your reiatsu, alongside Kuchiki-taichou. However, as these actions were done within the grounds of the Kuchiki estate, it is up to the head of the household to deal with internal affairs. As he has not prosecuted you, there will be no recorded offence. Your second offence was not a problem, as it was done in the countryside outside of Seireitei, however it raised alerts in the technical bureau that nearly had you classified as a Ryoka reiatsu source since your reiryoku signature has not been recorded. As a warning, you are to limit your reiatsu towards whatever task is at hand in future, you are allowed to work within your own barracks as you please, so that your training will not be obstructed, however if another offence is recorded within Seireitei without proper reason, you will be charged as according to the laws of Soul Society." **Huh? He didn't warn me towards my zanpakuto release?** "I am sorry about the problems I have caused, the time I spent outside of Seireitei at full power was vocational training on my behalf, it won't happen again."-Yoshirou finished, bowing once again.

"Yoshirou-kun, are you finished getting chewed out yet?"-Kyoraku cheerfully asked, however before Yoshirou could even reply, there was a knock on the door. "Aww, seems we don't get to talk Yoshirou-kun, Ichimaru-kun has arrived." Sure enough, the door's opened to reveal the fox faced captain once again. "Oh? Y'all waited for me? How nice!"-Gin joked as he walked in, taking his place beside Hitsugaya.

"Now that everyone is present, this meeting shall begin. The situation is urgent; it has finally come to the point that we are short one adjutant short of the Gotei 13. This is a matter we can no longer leave to the lower ranked squad members. Therefore, in accordance with this situation, I will ignore Ichimaru's earlier independent actions." Ichimaru looked up at this before saying "Thank ya kindly!" "Furthermore, I hereby permit the continuous carrying and wartime release of soul slayers for senior officers, including Vice-Captains, within the court." **Wait, Captains are banned from releasing their soul slayers normally? **Yoshirou thought. **Maybe that's why Mayuri did not intervene earlier, if he is not legally aloud to release his zanpakuto, that would explain it, I never had any ban on me, so that's why my offence was taken lightly.** "Constant carrying of zanpakuto's eh…"-Tosen quietly said, sounding like he seemed to dislike the allowance. In comparison, Kenpachi happily said-"Wartime general release… I couldn't be happier." "If _someone _hadn't let the Ryoka escape in the first place, we wouldn't be _in_ this situation." Mayuri accused, Yoshirou was slightly worried by the usage of _somebody_ in Mayuri's accusation, he couldn't tell if he was referring to Gin or him. Luckily Gin was the one who accepted the insult, defensively saying "Ya can't talk 'bout tha no mo'." "That's right, as of now, he's my meat."-Kenpachi said, a threatening laugh escaping his lips. "Men, let us take this to all-out war."-Yamamoto declared. **If this keeps up, the Ryoka have no chance… **As the rest of the captain's filed out, Yoshirou stopped to talk to Yamamoto.

"Yamamoto-san, if I may ask, I would like it if you could include my second in command as being unallowed to engage the Ryoka, she is still too weak to try and fight an opponent who could defeat Renji."Yamamoto seemed to understand Yoshirou's concern and he nodded, signalling his acceptance to Yoshirou's request. "Yoshirou, about the mission that I have given you, do you have any reports on the conditions of the Captains?" "Currently there is no need for concern, I haven't been able to contact all of the captains, but out of the four captains I have met, none of them show any sign of relenting to the Ryoka, Soi Fon is guided by her desire to follow the law, she always has been, she will most definitely oppose the Ryoka. Mayuri is unfortunately up to his own machinations, I fear for the lives of the Ryoka he hunt's. Aizen seam's to follow the desire to protect his squad, he might not actively hunt the ryoka, but I have no doubt that if he encounters one, he will apprehend them. Byakuya is also definitely set towards following the law, perhaps towards a slightly self harming way, I fear for him, when this is all over he may be unfit to continue as Captain for a while until he gets over having to kill her, even if he acts as though he doesn't care."-Yoshirou itinerated. Yamamoto seemed to hear the truth in his words. "I had indeed feared over the effect this might have on Byakuya Kuchiki, but you know him better than most, I will allow for an extended leave of rest from duties for him following this trial should he show signs of weakening. That will be all, you are allowed to leave." Yoshirou bowed one last time before departing, heading towards his own squad. However, partway he bumped into Aizen, who seemed to have been waiting for him.

"Hey Aizen, how come your waiting here?" Yoshirou asked as he walked over to the bespectacled man. "Ah Yoshirou-kun, I have something I wish to talk to you about." Aizen seemed to look about as if for any followers, then he quietly said-"Do you not find all of this strange?" Yoshirou was surprised by the question, but Aizen continued none the less. "What I mean to say is this whole affair surrounding the execution of the young Kuchiki girl feels… well wrong to me. I was recently made fully aware of her transgressions, and while indeed they are drastic, I feel the need to execute her is wrong, let alone via using the Soukyoku." **What the hell! The Soukyoku execution stands? That's the method used to execute Captains!** "I'm just saying that I don't feel right about everything that is happening, that and the constant shifting of the dates, it feels as though another's hands are guiding all of this. I think I am going to investigate this in my own time, I will still deal with the Ryoka, after all they threaten the peace of Soul Society, but I must also discover whatever is at the source of all this. If I do discover anything, may I ask for your help if the time comes Yoshirou-kun?" Yoshirou felt that something seemed odd about this request, so he said "I cannot help you if it will do anything to destabilise Soul Society, but if it turns out there is a hidden villain, you can count on my aid." This seemed to be enough to satisfy Aizen as he smiled upon hearing the answer. "That is all I could ask of you Yoshirou-kun." "Now Aizen, according to Kira, you are holding onto something for me." Aizen looked pensive for a minute, until he suddenly remembered. "Ah, your little bands! I'm sorry but they were impeding on Kira's practice, they have a tiny amount of your reiatsu in them from overusage, and were obstructing her reiatsu flow. Here, I was actually holding onto them, you can have them back"-Aizen announced as he held his hand out, the bands sitting on his palm. "Well, I shall be on my way Yoshirou-kun"-Aizen finished, and with a little wave goodbye, he left. **Curious, so I'm not the only one doing something then** Yoshirou thought as he turned down the alley towards his squad. **Well, now I have to deal with my issues…**

(5 minutes later) (P.O.V change:Aizen)

Aizen walked down the street where he met with Gin the other day, sure enough Gin was waiting for him once more, his usual grin in place. "What kept ya Aizen-Taichou? Wer'n ya ment ta die yesterday?" "I was handed an opportunity to take advantage of yesterday, I did not have enough time to write my "will" to my Vice-Captain. Unfortunately, my attempts met with no success." "What ya mean an opportunity?"-Gin inquired. "I managed to obtain a certain artefact that has been made use of by Yoshirou, a particularly curious artefact at that. I tried to unlock whatever secrets it contained, but I had no luck. I also tried modifying its property, but whoever made the original modifications to its design was a genius, it was entirely foolproof. The only information I could gain was that Urahara had a hand with its modification; it's too sophisticated a system for any ordinary shinigami to come up with. However, its purpose was impossible to define, while Urahara may have modified it; there is a powerful spell that protects its mechanism, beyond what Urahara is capable of."

"So tha' means it was a was' o' time then?" "On the contrary, I now know for certain that he is a definite threat, even if he is unaware, he is being supported by unknown people for a particular purpose, but what remains a mystery. It may even be that he was a deliberate pawn kept to be in my way, if Urahara is involved. I have tricked him into believing that I am in support of his cause, after tonight, he will be determined to uncover whatever conspiracy lead to my death, it will better mask my death, especially since that ability of his may yet be able to pierce through my ability. The body we will use shall for all intents and purposes be perfect at fooling the others, but if he examines it, since he is not under Kyouka Suigetsu's effect, he will notice the duplicity immediately. I have given him a different target to hunt, but be warned, he may follow the lead back to you."

"Ah, he won' be any trouble, its tha' Hitsugaya I'm worried of, tha' zanpakuto o' his is trouble, if I mus' I can kill tha' Yoshirou wi' ma' Bankai, bu' I don' kno' about Hitsugaya, his elemental weather control wi' be a pain."-Gin warned Aizen. "Don't forget, engaging Yoshirou is something we should avoid, if by any chance he survives the fight, things will get that much harder for us, and don't worry about Hitsugaya, I have a plan to deal with him. It is time that I finally make use of Hinamori-kun…"

(1 hour later Kido Corps Barracks)

Yoshirou walked into the barracks, once again doubts eating away at him. **Can I really trust Aizen or not? He seemed sincere, but distant today, really reading him is almost impossible.** Sighing, he continued through the walkways, comrades waving or bowing as he passed.** All these guy's really don't know what I'm doing, they just see a leader, but I don't feel like one, never have. Man, I really don't know if what I'm doing is right or wrong anymore, do I do what is best for my squad and let an innocent die? Or do I risk everything, the lives of those who I am responsible for and try and save this innocent? I don't know what to do anymore!**

_Yoshirou, stop this self doubt. You know inside which path you want to follow, don't try to put everything on a scale, look forward, don't look back. After all you have never been the type to think before you do, just follow what you think is right, everybody will be behind you._

**But how do I know what is right?**

_Look, do you want to save the innocent or let her die?_

**I want to save her, but-**

_No buts, your path lies in front of you, the path to save her, just trust in your power and you can do it._

… **hehehe…you make it sound so simple**

_That's because it really is that simple, well I say that, but it's you who is going to have to explain yourself to Kira_

**Damn…**

Yoshirou thought about where he would find her, then on instinct went to the gardens of the squad. Sure enough, there she was lying on the grass.** How long has she been there? **Yoshirou mused as he walked over to her. Unsurprisingly, she was asleep, looking down on her, Yoshirou came to realise just how important her support was to him, after all he would never have had the guts to step up to being a captain if it hadn't been her walking behind him, with her _Taichou_ this and _Taichou_ that, in all honesty he would have probably dissolved the squad long before if it weren't for the support they all gave him, the way they looked to him for leadership. **I owe it to them to stay true to myself, they've backed me this far, changing just because things have become difficult would be an insult to them, to the trust they put in me.**

_See, it really was that simple after all_

Yoshirou lightly shook Kira, but was surprised when an arm shot out and grabbed his sleeve. _"Don't leave me Taichou, don't leave me behind."-_Kira quietly murmured. **A dream? About me?** "Hey sleepyhead, wake up!" The arm that had been grabbing his sleeve shot up further without warning, catching him a decent blow on the chin and upsetting his balance so he tripped over backwards from it. "Oh Taichou, I'm sorry!"-Kira desperately apologised, getting up to try and help the beleaguered man. "Meh, don't worry I probably deserve it from you." Yoshirou said, shaking off her attempts to help him up and instead lying down properly "C'mon, you might as well get comfy, this tale is going to take a long time to tell…"

(1 Hour later)

"So that's everything then…"-Kira quietly said. During the long explanation she had joined Yoshirou on the grass, staring up at the stars overhead. "Yep, say whatever criticisms you want, but that's whats happening."-Yoshirou replied. "Why would I say any criticisms? You acted exactly like anyone would given the situation, although I don't think I would have been able to do quite as good. Anyway, what's the plan now?" "Eh plan? Oh yeah, you wanted to help…lets see…how about I go and secretly try and do everything and you go babysit the squad in my absence?" "Eh? B-But I just said that I would help you!"-Kira said, hurt ringing in her voice from the obvious dismissal. "Don't get me wrong, babysitting the squad is exactly the thing you can do to aid me. Y'see, I could be absent for extended amounts of time over the next few weeks, I need a reliable person to hold the fort and make sure that everything is done right, also I need somebody to be able to cover for my absence, after all the sudden disappearance of everyone's favourite man could cause some misunderstandings that could ruin everything. Also, being blunt, while you do have some unique abilities that could be of use, you can't adequately protect yourself if things go south. Don't forget if we are discovered, all of Soul Society will turn on us, I won't be able to survive if I have to keep you alive as well. Anyway, there's one more reason you should remain here, your grounded!" Yoshirou finished; a grin on his face. "What do you mean grounded?" "All people lower than Vice-Captain rank have to remain hands off until the current problem is sorted. While I have special consideration as the current leader of the Kido Corps, you're officially a 12th seat, your not allowed to get involved."-Yoshirou finished. "Tell you what though, I'm going to let you off your leash in terms of enforced bakudo practice, it might be about time you tried learning some more from your zanpakuto, after all from what I've seen of it, it's a rather impressive example!"

"Yeah okay"-Kira sighed, giving up on pushing him any further. Both she and Yoshirou just continued to look up at the stars. "Hey Kira, for the record it was rather nice that you finally started using my name again, it's been ages since the time you were less caught up in supporting me and used my real name, I'm glad you did, it reminded me of what I was, and what I should do, thanks."-Yoshirou admitted, glad the darkness hid the flush that spread on his face from saying that. "Aww that's nice Taichou."-Kira said, giggling**. Damn, she had to go and ruin it…**

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**IMPORTANT TO READ TODAY, IF YOU WANT YOUR INPUT IN MY STORY!**

**Chapter over heh. Well, now comes something a bit important. As I told you all before, Yoshirou was an old design, so is his shikai. However, Kira is new, I designed her literally as I typed the first chapter. Now since she is new, i'm having problems with designing her a shikai. Heres my plans as thus far (as thought of two hours ago):**

**Shikai:Inadzuma-means "Flash of Lightning"**

**Release command: Hibana-simple this one, just means "Spark" (I wanted a simple one since most V.C have a single word, "Snap" "Howl" "Pierce" etc.)**

**Type:Lightening element/melee type (shock horror, a kido fighter with a melee zanpakuto? Anybody thinking inverse Yumichika here?)**

**1st Ability: Izuna-now this is an odd name for a tech, its actually the japanese name for the "Least Weasel" a real life animal, and the smallest carnivore on the planet. However, this ability has nothing to do with that. This is a pure and obvious theif from another anime (sorry soul eater manga readers!). This ability boosts muscle and brain reaction time by sending a charge through the users body to a large extent, it wont make em as fast as Shunpo or anything like that, but it massivly increases general speed and general attack times. It's a passive ability that's activated much like the Hi-Kiwa of Taiyoukousen, immediatly on release.**

**2nd Ability: Lightning Kido booster-It gives the user the ability to utilise high end spells of an electrical nature, she will be able to skip everything on Hado 04 and 11, and Eisohaki (skip incantation) for Hado 63 and for one Bakudo that I plan to invent, it will probably be a number between 40-50 since theres no Bakudo in that range as of yet, although I will correct if something pops up in the manga. However utilising this technique will burn through her reiatsu at an accelerated rate, she is limited to 3 uses of these spells in any combination. (fair limit I think, no V.C so far has a spell like Hado Eishohaki 63, nor do any of them have any full skip techniques)**

**Now heres you helping part. You can either criticise my zan, give input towards an enhancement for my zan (DONT FORGET! She is a V.C, not a god, no god-mode abilities) or if your really feeling adventurous, design the said Bakudo. You can give it any number between 40-50 but it must be lightning based, or i can't use it! Thanks if you do try and do this, your help will be greatly appreciated!**


	14. Chapter 14 The cat is back

**Well, heres another chapter of my story, just a simple one. By the way, for any curious people, I have been delibrately delaying going to Ukitake's place until after this chapter. It was mentioned in most chapters, but I was delaying until after the whole Yoruichi/Byakuya fight bit, since Ukitake was confined to bed in all of that time, and meetings with a half dead ill guy are never quite as much fun as a guy who you can poke humour at. Anyhow, heres the next chapter!**

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**Another day huh? Man, I feel as if I have done just about everything in my life again in these past two days, it's been a pain in the ass just remembering half the things that have happened. Ah well, today I'm finally going to get around to seeing Ukitake, I just hope he doesn't start treating me like a kid, last time he kept on asking me if I wanted the spare candy he had, he doesn't get the hint that 200+ years of age makes you a bit too old for candy.**

_Stop being over critical, it was 100+ last time you met him, he has some right to accidentally see you as young._

**Still a pain in the ass, still if accepting candy is enough to get his approval, I'd bring a wheelbarrow, it's more important I get his support than anything else. Also while we are at it, he was Rukia's Captain wasn't he? Perhaps he might be able to help us?**

Yoshirou considered his plan of action for the day, before he finally got a good glance out the window.** …Shit! How long did I sleep in?**

_From my guess, it's probably 11 in the morning, I didn't want to wake you since you have been through quite a lot and need your rest. Judging from the absence of Kira waking you up, I would say she thinks the same._

**Thanks for considerations but I need to get up now!**

Yoshirou practically leapt up from his sitting position, charging for the door.

_Clothes…_

**Ah right! **Making a quick u-turn, Yoshirou hurriedly threw on his uniform before getting out the door. However, the influx of people about the corridors forced him to restrain to a slow walk. Arriving in the kitchens, he quickly filled an iron kettle with water and, not wasting time, cast a kido spell on its base to boil it.

"Taichou, what on earth are you doing!"-Kira shouted as she walked in the room, spotting the scene before her and wondering whether he had cracked from the pressure. "What this? It's nothing, an old exercise Unohana told me to practice to better my reiatsu control for medical techniques. It's faster than a normal fire, don't worry I haven't set fire to anything…yet." Suspicion rife in her eyes, Kira quickly snatched the pot from his hand before putting it over a fire instead, although it seemed redundant as a few seconds later it was whistling, showing the water had indeed boiled already. "See works perfectly fine, now if you wanted tea as well, you could have just asked rather than grabbing it from me." "I'll make the tea if you don't mind; I don't want you burning this whole place down just because you're late for something!" **Wow, look who is in a mood this morning…** Yoshirou thought as he watched her quickly cross the room to fetch the necessary ingredients for the tea pot. **Must have not gotten much sleep, worrying over what she learnt yesterday. **

"So, what's the plan for today?"-Kira asked. "Simple, go see Ukitake, try and win approval, come home and sleep, simple plans always work the best!" Kira made a rather exasperated sigh at his comedy act. Still, deciding it wasn't the best of times for an argument, she simply finished making the tea. She sat down to drink her tea, but Yoshirou practically downed his drink in one shot before dropping his cup jumping up and shouting "THAT'S FUCKING HOT!", charging over to the faucet and pouring water down his throat. After he had managed to sooth his burnt throat, he turned and somehow managed a decent smile. "Thanks' for the tea Kira, but just as a warning, next time I don't like it quite that hot." He turned to leave, but he found a messenger kneeling in his path. At the same time, he realised there was a huge reiatsu somewhere within Seireitei flaring up. He nearly collapsed upon sensing it, the reiatsu wasn't enough to do that, but the sheer bloodlust in it nearly sent him over. **Damn, there's times I hate being able to accurately sense reiatsu like that**. Yoshirou thought as he felt Kira's hand steady him, a worried expression on her face. **No doubt about it, somebody has found a Ryoka! **

"I have a high priority message for Yoshirou Kenshin, acting Captain of the Kido Corps!" the messenger said. "Can ya tell it to my Vice-Captain? I have somewhere I need to be!" Yoshirou answered, before jumping straight over the messenger and running out the door. The confused messenger considered its mission, then asked Kira "My apologies, are you Kira Hazuki, acting Vice-Captain of the Kido Corps?" "Yes" "My message was to be delivered to the Captain, but failing the Captain, the Vice-Captain, there is an urgent message…!"

10 minutes later

Even using his Shunpo at full tilt, it took a long time to reach the centre of the huge disturbance he felt. It didn't help that after getting within a 100m radius of it, the accumulated reiatsu disrupted the reishi in the air, making Shunpo impossible for him, so he ended up jumping between buildings, trying to cover the ground as fast as he could. However, his senses were getting more and more confused by the second. **I can tell that first reiatsu belonged to Kenpachi, but it was filled with more killing intent than the one I was exposed to at the Squad 1 barracks, how is that even possible? The second one has to be Kurosaki, there's no doubt about it, but it's grown since last time, I know he would have felt a tiny increase from my reiatsu restoring his system, but it's inconceivable it was enough to bring him to that level. Now they have both skyrocketed beyond what was before, Kenpachi must have removed his seal, and judging from the feel of Kurosaki's reiatsu, I would say that hollow entity I heard about earlier must be at fault for his jump. **Quickly clearing the jump from small buildings towards the larger ones that surrounded the combat zone, he continued his thoughts.** Its impossible to tell who has the advantage here, Kenpachi's raw power is unbelievable, it makes mine look tiny, I could probably match it with Taiyou's help, but alone I have nowhere near that much. Ichigo however, seems to be working with both his zanpakuto and whatever that other entity was, its effectively three vs. one, but that one is every bit as monstrous as all three put together, its going to be close. The worst thing of all is that there's going to be no holds barred when these two clash, they could both die very easily here. I can't intervene this time, I'm going to simply have to watch. **

Landing on a nearby building, Yoshirou quickly surveyed the battlefield. It was a mess, the fight with Renji didn't even compare. There were buildings cut down, walls broken through, you name it, somebody trashed it. There was also a lot of blood dotted around the field, a particularly big pool lying besides the sliced in half building. As he looked, he saw the source of the combat. **Hard not to with all that reiatsu flying in the air. **Kenpachi and Kurosaki were facing off against each other, both pulling on every last drop of their reiatsu to prepare for the final clash. Surprisingly, it looked like Kurosaki was the better off fighter; he had one bad chest wound and a slight cut on his face. Kenpachi on the other hand was absolutely covered in injuries, but judging from his maniacal grin, he probably didn't care**. So that's the look of a man who lives for battle, scary.**

"Go Ken-chan!" a voice from nowhere surprised Yoshirou, before he realised something was balancing on his shoulder. Looking up, he spotted a young girl with pink hair perched on his shoulder. "Hey, having fun up there?"-Yoshirou inquired. The young girl looked down at him with a big smile on her face before turning back to the fight. **Is she planning to sit there all day?** Yoshirou wondered **…doesn't really matter, this fight is more important.** "Umm, who are you?"-the girl said, looking confused down at him. **Don't jump on people if you don't know them! **"Yoshirou Kenshin, 3rd seat of Kido-." "Too long, your Yoshi-kun now!"-the pink haired girl cheerfully interrupted him. **Yoshi-kun?** "Ah look, Ken-chan is attacking!"-the girl suddenly shouted in delight. Turning back to the fight, Yoshirou could indeed see that both fighters' were charging over the field straight for each other. They met in the middle with a colossal impact, it was impossible to tell what had happened, the burst of reiatsu from the collision made it impossible to see. However, what he could see was that the wall of reiatsu was heading straight for them. Yoshirou quickly braced himself, but even with his power, he felt himself pushed back slightly from the force. Amazingly, the girl had remained perched on his shoulder even from that shockwave.

As the shockwave dispersed, Yoshirou got a good look at the result. Both men were standing in front of each other, having dealt each other a catastrophic blow. Ichigo's shikai was cutting deep into Kenpachi's chest, but Kenpachi had scored the better blow, the blade had passed cleanly into Ichigo's torso and out the other side. Yoshirou was shocked; it seemed that it was all over. Ichigo seemed to say something quietly, but he collapsed, Kenpachi still standing before him. However, that wasn't for long, as Kenpachi's torso suddenly splashed blood everywhere, the slash on his torso was worse than Yoshirou thought, then the most surprising thing, Kenpachi's sword broke in half as the giant captain fell beside his enemy. Yoshirou felt a slight increase in pressure on his shoulder as the young girl kicked off of it, and started the descent down to the ground. Unsure of her intentions, Yoshirou also followed**. In the worst possible situation, I could possibly use that spell and escape with Kurosaki.** Yoshirou thought **but the only place I can take him to is my own squad, I don't have any way markers at any other locations… what do I do? I just have to hope I can stabilise him before he dies, this time he has little chance of survival even if I started now, I just have to hope that will of his keeps him alive.**

Quickly reaching the area about the fight, Yoshirou noticed that indeed Kurosaki had won, he was barely conscious while Kenpachi was out for the count. Yoshirou watched as the young girl looked over the two people before her.** Shit, if she makes a move to finish Kurosaki, I'm going to have to knock her out. **However, the girl defied his expectations, instead bowing. "Thank you! Thanks to you Icchy, Ken-chan had a fun fight. It's been a long time since I've seen Ken-chan having that much fun. Honestly, thank you." She then somehow picked up the behemoth of a Captain, somehow supporting his entire weight on her tiny frame. "Icchy, if you can, don't die 'kay? And if you can, play with Ken-chan again, 'kay? Please." She then seemed to remember that Yoshirou was standing there as well. "Yoshi-kun, can you please leave Icchy alone? He has to be able to play with Ken-chan again. If you do try and kill him, Ken-chan will probably have to play with you instead!" **I don't think I have ever seen something so cute say something so scary.** Yoshirou thought as by some miracle, the girl started leaping up buildings with the weight of her Captain on her.

Yoshirou kneeled down beside Kurosaki, checking to see if he was still conscious. As he watched, the brown eyes seemed to focus on him for a second, before closing as he fell into unconsciousness. Quickly, Yoshirou set about his work. **First things first, stabilising him is priority, I can't use the same thing as last time since he is failing fast** Yoshirou thought, mentally scrolling through his list of healing techniques. Finding the necessary one, Yoshirou placed one hand on Ichigo's head and another over his heart as he started intoning a chant, pouring reiatsu into his spell. Immediately he felt an intense toll on his reiatsu. **Fuck, how badly injured is he? This isn't good, I'm barely going to be able to stabilise the wounds, let alone start healing them. **He considered perhaps setting up a barrier to better stabilise his reiatsu usage and speed the regeneration rate, but decided against it. If he set up the barrier here, there would be no moving him, sealing the wounds had to come first, and then moving him. The problem was that accelerated sealing of wounds with this technique was very hard, only he and Unohana were capable of using such a technique alone, and he didn't have half the confidence that he could fully pull it off. However, as time passed, he just about managed to finish before his reiatsu ran out. **Damn, it's a patchy job at best, it will hold long enough to move him though, but I don't think I have enough strength yet to move him.**

Yoshirou suddenly realised he had an uninvited guest. While he had been busy furiously concentrating a cat had arrived, watching the process with a keen interest in its eyes. Yoshirou however didn't really care much about the uninvited guest; he was concentrating more on maintaining his clear thoughts. **Think, think, how can I move him? I'm still rather wobbly on my legs after using that much reiatsu, I don't think I can move him alone, and there's no way I can leave and get help… **"You seem to be having trouble there" a rough voice announced. Looking about, he realised that the voice belonged to the cat. He then had a quick flashback to the last time he was at the Urahara store; he had met a cat there that could talk as well. "No way, Yoruichi? You're with the Ryoka as well?"-Yoshirou asked the cat. "Yes, I am, and I am glad that we met under these circumstances, it seems you are already allied to our cause."-the cat named Yoruichi responded. "S'pose so, I couldn't accept the way this was all playing out, so I'm secretly doing what I can to help. However, Kurosaki here ran headfirst into Kenpachi, it was a bloodbath, he barely survived it. I've done what I can to stabilise him, but I need help to move him."-Yoshirou answered. The cat walked over to Kurosaki and looked down on him, then drew back in surprise. "You really did stabilise him, I'm surprised you would have that kind of ability to heal this bad a wound without assistance." "It was close, nearly ran out. This kind of operation is meant to be carried out by four to five people and over the space of an hour, not one in 5 minutes. It's a patch job, but I should be able to move him now."

"You can't do that in your condition, you look like you just ran around the world in one go."-Yoruichi observed. Yoshirou tested his legs, he could stand and move, perhaps even use shunpo if he was careful, but doing any of the above with the dead weight of Kurosaki's body on him would be impossible. "Your right, but since you're here I have an idea. I can perhaps locate one of the other Ryoka and contact him, he has an extremely fast technique that could get here perhaps fast enough to assist us." "No good, we don't have that kind of time, we need to get him moved now."-Yoruichi stated. "I know a suitable place for him, we can go there." "We? I think your overestimating me, I can't carry Kurosaki in my current state."-Yoshirou said. The cat just simply replied. "Then I shall carry him." Pictures of cat's flying with humans on their backs randomly floated in Yoshirou's mind. "Err, not to insult, but your body isn't quite suited to carry humans." "My original body is."

"Your original body?" "You hardly think cat's can speak right? I'm not originally a cat, moving him in my real form will be no trouble, in fact it will be faster than you at full health." Yoshirou was surprised to hear this, indeed it had never occurred to him that Yoruichi the cat wasn't actually a cat. "Okay then, if you return to your body this shouldn't pose a problem." The cat seemed to nod, then glow purple.

_Yoshirou, look away_

**What Taiyou? Why should I look away?**

_Are you an idiot? Can't you connect the dots? Yoruichi? Ring a bell?_

**Nope**

_*sigh* fine, just watch instead._

Yoshirou did indeed return to watching, the shape of the cat was distorting, clouded behind the purple reiatsu. After a few weird shapes, it started to resemble a human form. Suddenly the dark fur that had hidden its real form disappeared. Yoshirou nearly fell over backwards in surprise. There was an entirely naked woman standing before him, and not just any woman, a rather recognisable one at that, laughing away at the shock and surprise on his face.

_Told you so, now guess who looks like an idiot?_

"Ah sorry Yoshirou, you wouldn't believe how long I've waited to be able to do that to you, but Urahara banned me from transforming in the shop when you were there, apparently Tessai didn't want his favourite pupil becoming disturbed." "Y-Yoruichi! The real one!"-Yoshirou blurted out.** I could never get over why Urahara had named his cat Yoruichi, I can't believe I never realised it before now!**

_In all honesty, I only realised it when she spoke about having a real form._

"Anway Yoshirou, we can talk more later, right now we have something to get doing."-Yoruichi said as she picked up the injured Ichigo, carefully cradling the injured boy to her body. Mixed feelings of jealousy towards his situation hit Yoshirou until he remembered Ichigo was unconscious, he didn't realise a sex god was carrying him.

_Yoshirou, will you clear your thoughts! Theres more important things going on at the moment!_

**Sorry.** "Um Yoruichi, do you really intend to go through Soul Society in the nude?" "Well unless you have a suggestion, then yep. Asides, I'm not going through soul society, I'm going to fly." "Fly? Isn't it impossible to go through the air since the Seireitei wall stops complete reishi gathering?"-Yoshirou asked, confused by what Yoruichi meant. "Yep, but I have this little item." As she said that, she held out a rather odd looking item. **Where did she hide that?** As he watched, a wing seemed to extend from the object outwards. Carefully holding onto Kurosaki, she suddenly disappeared upwards into the sky. **She's right, I couldn't even tell which direction she went by sight.** Yoshirou thought as he homed in on her reiatsu signature. She was hiding it, but he could sense suppressed reiatsu with his abilities easily, following the trace reiatsu, he used shunpo to follow her.

(2 hours later)

Yoshirou finally managed to close the last wound properly; he was barely able to stay conscious now. Once again, Yoruichi leaned over to wrap the bandages about Kurosaki's body. **Damn it that is really distracting **Yoshirou thought as once again his eyes strayed to the nude form of Yoruichi's body.** I swear she is deliberately doing it, my ass she has no clothes in this cave. **He had already asked her earlier whether there were any spare clothes about for her to wear, but after watching his expression for a while, she smiled mischievously when she "regretfully" informed him there was nothing she could do about the lack of clothing. "Asides, you should be glad. You got one up on Byakuya, he never had the honour of seeing me fully naked."-Yoruichi had said with a smile on her face. **As if, your just amusing yourself on my reactions.**

_Does seeing a woman naked really take your concentration then Yoshirou?_

**Unfortunately yes, it tends to magnetize the thoughts of all men towards the woman in question, not just me. **_(He would come to regret those words in the days to come.)_

"Yoshirou, don't quite go blacking out on me yet, I need you to reactivate the barrier about him."-Yoruichi said, snapping his thoughts back the world about him. Quickly making the necessary hand seals, Yoshirou managed to reactivate the barrier which enclosed the futon they had placed Kurosaki on. Sitting back, Yoshirou finally managed to get a good look about the cave they were in. For a cave, it was well furnished, on one wall was a set of equipment racks with assorted practice weapons, alongside those was a bunch of rather creepy looking items that matched the weird wing he had seen earlier. Focusing back on the matter of hand, Yoshirou said "Well that should do for now, it isn't perfect, but everything should heal up just fine, we're lucky that last wound wasn't as deep as I feared." Yoruichi suddenly looked worried upon hearing the last comment, as she picked up the object that they had discovered earlier, the Hollow Mask.

"Yeah, that little thing. I don't know if that is a saviour or a curse. When I made contact with Ichigo's inner world the first time I healed him, the zanpakuto, Zangetsu if I remember right, said there was a second being inside of him that would devour him if he tried to aid my attempts to speed Kurosaki's recovery. However, that's also twice that mask has saved his life, I just don't understand it." "Yes, I'll ask Ichigo when he awakens… by the way why are you avoiding eye contact with me?"-Yoruichi inquired, her grin showing that she knew full well why it was he was having difficulty. "You know exactly why! Why are you still in that form! If we have no clothes, then remain as a cat!" "Gosh, you really are still acting like the little virgin I remember than." "What in hell does that have to do with anything? Not all of us have been playing house in the last century!" "Oh? I would have thought you would have been after that little friend of yours, whats-her-name, little one that always used to tag around with you." "Kira, her names Kira, and it's none of your god damn business who I go for!" "Oh no! Don't tell me you're actually after Byakuya!" "Do you really want me to kill you!" "Nope, wouldn't mind something else though…" "What the hell are you insinuating?" "Got your attention there did I?" "Screw this, I think I am going to kill you!"

This continued for a good while, but in the end it seemed Yoruichi tired of picking on him and reverted to her cat form to settle the argument. "And here I thought you were the more resilient one out of you and Byakuya" "I am, but it's difficult with a completely nude woman in front of your face!"-Yoshirou finished. "Well, it's perhaps time we started planning our next way then. First off, asides yourself, will we have any allies among the Captains?"-Yoruichi inquired. "Not that I know so far, everybody I've talked to seems determined to fight the Ryoka. But Aizen seemed to resent the punishment for Rukia and thinks that there maybe something behind the scenes." "Aizen huh…" Yoruichi seemed to be on the verge of saying something, but decided against it **(He doesn't need to know the truth, it will only complicate things much further if he knows of Aizens true nature...)**

"Sorry, but I have managed to learn something of Aizen earlier today, your not going to like it." "What do you mean?" "Aizen was found dead, impaled to a wall by his own Zanpakuto."

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**End chapter, next one we finally have the two heroes meet, Ichigo of the main storyline and Yoshirou of my storyline (dunno how i'm going to pull it off, probably have Ichigo accidentally attack him or something else, I don't know) Anyhow seeya next time, don't forget the request for help I made in my last chapter!**


	15. Chapter 15

**Well, re-decided I will continue after all, thanks for the support PrimeroEspada, and for the additional idea's Redwarrioroflight, I will do my best to continue again. This chapter was a lil late on the update since I was forced to go to relatives for 2 days, and beleive me when I say they live in the stone ages, no computer to finish work. Anyhow, heres a new chapter! (Sorry for the lack of chapter title, I couldn't think of a fitting one XP)**

* * *

"Aizen's…dead?"-Yoshirou asked, barely believing what he was hearing. He felt like the world had just crashed about him, even if Aizen had opposed him in becoming Captain, he still had a healthy amount of respect for the Captain, he was a good man, and one of the few people that Yoshirou had been able to trust in these last few days. **Wait… Theres no way one of the Ryoka could have killed him in such a cruel way, if he is dead that means he found something and was silenced for it! Fuck it all, he was right! Why didn't I say I would definitely help him? If he could have come to me rather than investigate himself, he mightn't have had to die! **Yoshirou was swamped with guilt at his suspicions of the captain's intentions, he had been right all along, and he had died because of it. He felt horrible, the man had been a guiding hand for him in the past, trying to keep him out of trouble whenever things had gone wrong within his squad, yet he had died with Yoshirou's suspicions on him.

Yoruichi seemed aware of the turmoil that swallowed Yoshirou, she felt that she should tell him the truth, that this was most likely another plot at the hand's of Aizen, to try and relieve him of whatever feelings he had, but she kept silent. Yoshirou was a powerful individual even if he was unaware of it, his squad was among one of the most well trained units in Soul Society, they had trained non-stop to keep their squad alive, and the teamwork and trust they had between comrades rivalled the closeness of the Onmitskido itself. If he was to realise the truth of blight in the centre of Soul Society, he would not be able to restrain himself, and they would choose him over Soul Society, he could bring about a war if he wasn't careful. Right now if they wanted to succeed in their goal of freeing Rukia before Aizen's plans came to a close, they would need his help on the inside, and that meant keeping him in the dark about the truth.

"Yoshirou, whatever that happened to Aizen, it was because he tried to intervene in somebody's plans, whoever they were, they were strong enough to kill an experienced Captain, somebody like you, powerful yet lacking in experience, would have no hope if you were discovered. The best thing you can do is try to help us, Aizen's attempt to intervene ending with his death means that something is trying to make sure Rukia dies, and they have no qualms about killing to do it. It may even be that they are trying to disrupt Soul Society, after all they are forcing Byakuya to choose to kill his sister, they are creating a rift in the captains and they have killed one of them. If you want to help, you must help end this by rescuing Rukia."

"Yeah your right…but it doesn't make it any easier to accept his death, just the other day, he asked if he could count on my help, and I told him I wouldn't help if it disrupts Soul Society, that's why he died! Because he couldn't rely on me since I was being damn conditional!"-Yoshirou said, his voice raising with his emotion. "Don't blame yourself, I already said these guys are strong enough to kill a captain with no qualms, what kind of hope do you think you going with him would have made? Just one more body in the death count! You did the right thing, your alive; you can still try to continue what he wanted."-Yoruichi argued back at him.

"…all right then."-Yoshirou answered quietly "I already decided I would help, I'm not turning back now…" Yoruichi nodded at this. Behind them, it seemed Kurosaki was waking up. He was stirring from his sleep. "Yoshirou, will you let me handle the talking of any important matters?"-Yoruichi asked, slightly bemused, Yoshirou nodded his agreement. Both turned to Kurosaki, who had opened his eyes. He seemed slightly confused at the setting of the place he was at, "I see your awake then."-Yoruichi said, trying to get his attention. Kurosaki turned in the futon, noticing the two people sitting beside him. "Yoruichi-san…and Yoshirou, right?" "Oh, how did you figure out who I was?" "Hanatarou told me, apparently I have you to thank for the healing after my fight with Renji, and from the looks of things, for this as well."-Kurosaki said. "No problem, but I couldn't heal that awful face you have."-Yoshirou joked, but it seemed lost on Kurosaki who was once again deep in thought.

"Oh yeah!"-Kurosaki shouted, suddenly sitting up, surprising both Yoshirou and Yoruichi. Unfortunately this was a bad move, his barely healed stomach wound opened up from the force of the movement and blood started to seep through his bandages. He immediately seemed to regret his decision as he grunted in pain, clutching at the wound. "Fool, why in heavens name are you trying to move! Don't you understand the extent of your injuries? They have barely been sealed, move about and your going to rip them open again!"-Yoruichi shouted. "Chad's in trouble, I gotta go save him!"-Ichigo said, trying to get up. **Chad? He must be that last one they confirmed.** However, Ichigo's attempt to rise was sharply stopped by Yoruichi pouncing on his face, knocking him back to the futon. "Calm down! Chad is alright, he was lucky to fight the foe he did; he sustained wounds but is alive. Inoue and Ishida are also doing fine, they have been carefully moving in disguise and have so far gotten by nearly uninjured, Yoshirou could confirm that for you." "Huh? Oh yeah, those two. A few days back I ended up encountering them, they were in shinigami disguises, only reason I figured them out was because no shinigami calls a Kuchiki by their first name except those who can get away with it, i.e. me and the captains, oh and Renji. I fought them for a little while, gave them a decent scare then lost on purpose, they wont be stupid enough to risk a fight again I think."-Yoshirou answered.

"Oh"-Kurosaki simply said**. Well his wounds are probably still at him, one word is better than nothing. **"So be quiet and rest inside this barrier for a while."-Yoruichi ordered him. "After all half of your organs were crushed, even with Yoshirou's help, you're still pretty badly injured."-Yoruichi stated, before turning and carefully pulling the hollow mask over. "If it hadn't been for this, your torso would have been cut in half." Kurosaki seemed to stare at the hollow mask oddly, although Yoruichi didn't notice. "I was surprised you were still carrying this thing around." "I really had that?"-Kurosaki asked, some confusion obvious in his voice. "What, you weren't carrying it around?" "Well actually, when I fought with Renji, it seemed that thing saved me. So I wanted to keep it as a good luck charm, but Hanatarou seemed to be worried about it, he didn't seem to think keeping it was a good idea. Before I could stop him, he chucked it into the sewer" **Whoa, is that true?** Yoshirou thought. Alike to him, Yoruichi's cat eyes seemed to widen in surprise at the prospect of what it meant. Mistaking Yoruichi's surprise, Kurosaki quickly explained "Oh, Hanatarou is a guy from the 4th squad. Even though he's the enemy like Yoshirou, he's also a good guy. He even finished healing my wounds after Yoshirou apparently left." "Yeah sorry about that, I was worried somebody would discover my absence."-Yoshirou apologised. **Wait, why am I apologising? I've saved his ass twice!**

"No worries"-Kurosaki said, before reaching over for the mask. "Still, how come…I was sure he threw it away…" "Let me hold onto that"-Yoruichi asked. "Eh? What for? I'm lucky it came back…"-Kurosaki started to say, but a sudden growth in Yoruichi's reiatsu surprised him. "Hand it over! I will not permit back talk!"-Yoruichi growled. Even Yoshirou was shocked by the tone; after all he had never seen the mischievous woman act seriously before. Kurosaki froze in fear, before handing the mask over, politely saying "Yes, sir, please keep it as you see fit." Yoruichi seemed to stare at the mask for a minute, perhaps contemplating what this new information meant, combined with what Yoshirou had already told her. During this time, Kurosaki turned to Yoshirou. "I dunno who you are, but if you're here to help, then thanks. I know you already saved me twice, you even brought me back to wherever this is." Yoshirou laughed at that, before replying-"It wasn't me that brought you here, Yoruichi did that." "Yoruichi-san did? Wow Yoruichi-san, you really are amazing."-Kurosaki complimented. "What do you mean?" "Carrying me here with such a small body…" Upon hearing this, Yoruichi turned and gave a wink to Yoshirou, before replying "It was nothing. If I return to my real form, such a task is child's play"

"Ah, I see, to your original form huh?" **Wow, he took that better than I did** Yoshirou thought, until he saw the surprised expression on Kurosaki's face. "Original? Form?" "Come to think of it, I haven't showed any of you yet, have I?" Yes you bloody well have! "Very well, after coming this far there is no point in hiding it."-Yoruichi stated as she padded a small distance away to get some room. "I shall show you…my true form."-Yoruichi grandly said. Yoshirou very nearly let slip a laugh at the grandeur in her voice, but managed to keep quiet long enough for Yoruichi to once again transform into her naked female form. **Man, you do have to admit she has a sexy body…**

_For god's sake will you stop that!_

**Wha-? What does it matter to you what I think?**

_If you haven't forgotten, I happen to be half of your soul, I feel your emotions just as strongly as you do, and lusting after that flasher is making me feel rather sick!_

**Oh shit, I forgot about that… wait, you aren't going to interrupt any relationships I have in the future are you?**

_No, but ogling a flasher like her is not what I would call a relationship in any way, shape or form!_

**God Kurosaki has it so much easier, he has a same gender zanpakuto.**

_I have no doubt if Kurosaki's thoughts were alike to yours, Zangetsu would object as well._

Well let's just see how he acts then.

Snapping back to reality, he realised that he had somehow become the focus of everybody's attention during his argument with his zanpakuto. Both Yoruichi and Kurosaki were watching him with strange expressions on their face. "Hey, what was up with the gold eye trick? I saw that on Kenpachi, albeit his was yellow, and that is not an experience I want to go through again." Yoruichi rolled her eyes in exasperation at Kurosaki's comment. "Kurosaki, whenever a person gets fully serious and draws on their own power, their eyes will glow the colour of their reiatsu, yours glow blue for you information. However, the question is why was his glowing now? Also, just saying, that was a relatively interesting reiatsu shade, pure gold." Yoshirou was at a loss for words, he wasn't even sure what they were talking about. However after an answer wasn't forthcoming, Yoruichi decided to turn back to Kurosaki. "Now, as I was saying, this was how I managed to bring you here-." However, as she was talking Kurosaki was steadily turning a deep red colour. "First of all, this object is-" "CLOTHES! PUT ON SOME FREAKIN' CLOTHES!"

(1 minute later)

"Yoruichi you lying woman! You told me you had no clothes!"-Yoshirou complained as Yoruichi was pulling a jumper over her head. "Well, I appreciate the emotions of a poor 15 yr old. You on the other hand are over 200 years old." "And you're even older still!" Ignoring this, Yoruichi started talking to the turned away Kurosaki. "But you… you're more innocent than you look. Was this your first time seeing a woman's body? Eh?" "Shut up!"-Kurosaki retorted. Unperturbed, Yoruichi continued saying "Are you sure… this firm, young female skin? If you don't look now, you may never see it again." **Well that's a pack of lies; I have no doubt your going to torment the kid for the next few years, judging from how you used to torment Byakuya. **However, annoyed by her words, Kurosaki turned to shout "It's none of your business what I want to do!" However, Yoruichi suddenly hiked up the jumper, giving him a good view of her crotch. He recoiled in shock, only to grab his wounds again whimpering in pain. "Are you alright? Well it's no wonder your wounds opened up, what with you screaming so much."

SHUTUP! WHY DON'T YOU PUT SOME PANTS ON! YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO START FROM THE BOTTOM!

(2 minutes later)

"Clothes are so confining…" Yoruichi complained as she tried to settle the turtleneck into a more comfortable position. She had finally gotten changed into her clothes and Yoshirou was surprised at the change. Yoshirou in his memory always saw the Yoruichi-Taichou with her Captain's Haori; however she had instead opted for an orange based uniform rather than the traditional shihakshou of the shinigami. Kurosaki had instead started inspecting the tool from earlier. "So basicly, you brought me here by using this thing to fly?" "That's right, it's a precious object, the only one of it's kind in all of Soul Society. Impressive, isn't it?" **What the- I know that ones a bit odd looking, but I know for a fact there's a second artefact that serves a similar, if not better purpose. **Yoshirou thought, confused as to why Yoruichi withheld that fact.

"But…why is such a precious object in your possession? You can transform, you own rare objects. Yoruichi-san, who in the world are you?"-Kurosaki asked. "That…-" However, before she could even start to explain herself, a strong reiatsu could be felt by everybody in the room. "Oh no…" Yoshirou said. "This reiatsu is…HIM!" Kurosaki said, anger palpable in his voice. "In the direction of the shrine of penitence."-Yoruichi finished. Kurosaki suddenly rose from the futon, grabbing his zanpakuto, carrying the artefact and ran for the entrance. "Wait Ichigo!"-Yoruichi commanded. Worried for whatever Kurosaki was going to rashly do, Yoshirou raised his hand, ready to use a Bakudo if Kurosaki did anything. "Ganju and Hanatarou are heading for the shrine! I'm gonna save them!" "If you go now in your condition, what can you do?"-Yoruichi said at him. "If I don't go, who is going to save them!" That had Yoshirou hesitate, after all Kurosaki was right, if nothing was done those two could be killed. However, in the few seconds that he hesitated, Kurosaki activated the artefact in his hand and blasted out of the cave.

Yoruichi charged out of the cave shouting his name, but Kurosaki didn't turn back. "Yoshirou, why didn't you stop him!"-Yoruichi shouted, turning on him. "I'm sorry, but what he said hit home, nobody is going to help if he doesn't go, it was enough to make me hesitate in stopping him." "Damn, I'm going to have to save him now, theres no way you can follow him in time, just wait here until I return!"-Yoruichi ordered him. However, Yoshirou quickly stopped her from leaving. Fishing into one of his pockets, he quickly pulled out a pair of connected boxes. Breaking them apart, he offered one of them saying-"Here, take one of these, I'll keep hold of the other one and stay here. Now if you find that no matter what you try, you can't escape, think of who you plan to take with you, and crush the box between your hands. Spread them slightly apart and hold them there for a few seconds, it will aid you in escaping. Be careful with it though, it's delicate and making this pair took me 20 years, don't go wasting it!" As she took the box, realisation of exactly what she held flashed in her eyes, she then looked slightly in awe at Yoshirou. "Look, it took me 20 years, so don't be so amazed yet, now c'mon, you got to save him!"

(1 hour later)

Yoshirou felt like he had worn a path out of the ground in the cave, he had been pacing back and forth in worry since the start. Using his reiatsu sensing, he could visually map the exact way the battle went. There were two captain's present, facing off against three opponents. No sooner than he started sensing them that one of the three reiatsu went borderline to nothing, it was probably Ganju. It was about that time that Ukitake appeared, apparently stopping Byakuya judging from the lessening of reiatsu from him. If things had been left like that, it might have ended there and then; Ukitake would have not let Byakuya finish off the Ryoka. But then Kurosaki appeared and started fighting with Byakuya. After the fight being pretty level for a while, Byakuya's reiatsu suddenly shot up beyond Kurosaki's but consequently dissipated when Yoruichi joined the fray. Somewhere during that conflict, Kurosaki got knocked unconscious, then Yoruichi tried to flee with him, impeded by Byakuya. However, she managed to avoid him, and ran into Seireitei at an unbelievable speed. **Of course it would be unbelievable; she doesn't have the title of Flash Goddess for no reason, but she can outpace me by miles while carrying another person, makes you kinda jealous.**

As he sensed the impending reiatsu signatures, he walked to the destroyed entrance before removing his Kyokko spell from around the entrance. To anybody outside, it would seem that a hole suddenly appeared in the cliff face, although Yoruichi would know that there was a simple illusion spell in place. Stepping back, he saw Yoruichi enter through the opening, although she was absolutely exhausted. "Hey Yoshirou, thanks for not making a mess while we were gone"-she quipped while laying the unconscious Kurosaki on the futon once more. "Wow you look a mess, decided not to use what I gave you in the end?" "Of course not, that object is a rather magnificent creation, why waste it when running flat out would let me escape anyway?"-Yoruichi replied, slumping back against the cave wall in tiredness. "How on earth did you do that? I know Tessai had some relative skill in the matter, but actually infusing an object with an incredibly high level technique like Kūkanten'i? Even I wouldn't believe such a process was possible, and I've been hanging around Urahara and Tessai with their mad little creations for quite a while."-Yoruichi asked while carefully handing the small box back to Yoshirou.

"Well, it was all hidden in Tessai's notes to be honest, just before he left he must have unlocked his personal research cache in the hopes that I found it. It then took a few years of practice before I managed to infuse a simple spell into an object. After that succeeded, everything became relatively simple until that spell, no matter how I tried, it wouldn't work. It wasn't until Taiyou suggested that I had to create two halves, the actual spell and a destination marker tied to it, that it really started to work. Still it was a slow process, every spell you infuse takes about 50 times its original reiatsu amount to use, since you have to take care of the reiatsu bleeding from the process, but over the space of 20 years, I finally managed to create the pair I showed you today. It's really an emergency only item, I can just use the spell myself, but this little item has an infused reiatsu core of its own, that's why it's so delicate. With it, I could even use the spell if I was in a very bad state, however like I said, emergencies only. And an emergency to me would be trying to protect your target with all of Soul Society determined to kill the target and yourself, if you used it, you would have had no chance of being followed, and an immediate escape option. Also, it's almost impossible to tell that my reiatsu was the origin of it, since after years of being contained, the reiatsu has reverted to a more natural form."

Yoruichi looked relatively astounded at his explanation, for the free spirited boy she remembered, such a feat would have been impossible, even planning more than ten minutes ahead would have been impossible, yet here he had perhaps created the pinnacle of escape technologies and all on his own, Tessai would be proud that he had matured so much. **No,** she thought. **It wasn't on his own, he said his zanpakuto helped him with understanding the last spell, how on earth can a zanpakuto do that?** "Well, it is an impressive item none-the-less. Now back at the matter at hand, I had to knock the idiot out before he got himself killed, he seemed determined to fight Byakuya there and then, but he isn't ready for it yet, he's got the potential to be, perhaps the only one among us who does…" "Really? I think if necessary I could defeat Byakuya."-Yoshirou said. "No, you can't. Indeed in power and skill, you rival if not better Byakuya, but can you really fight him all out? Your old friend? Can you put his life at risk just to save this girl?" Her questions hit home hard, indeed he couldn't do that. "See? He is the only one who can fight Byakuya. While I don't like admitting it, I've gotten rusty over the years, even you're stronger than me by far at the moment, only one to two hundred flash steps and I'm already panting for breath, and that was my speciality in the past, Flash Goddess? I'm going to have to practice a bit if I want to keep that title, Soi Fon will no doubt want to strip that from me."

Getting up from the wall and stretching, Yoruichi turned to say. "Well we have a few hours before Ichigo here wakes up, that anaesthetic I used should keep him down for a while yet-." "Wait, you're the one who knocked him out?"-Yoshirou interrupted. "Does it matter? He would have died if he kept up the heroics, now back to what I was saying, we have a few hours so do you want to go down to the practice chamber?"

(5 Minutes later) (Underground training area)

"Bloody hell, this place is huge."-Yoshirou said, staring about the cavern. It was indeed huge, it bewildered him as to how such a cavern had gone unnoticed before. "Impressive isn't it? This was mine and Urahara's favourite training spot, we practically cut it all out ourselves."-Yoruichi explained as she did some warm up stretches. "Now, if memory serves me right, you're practically an all style fighter right? Zanjutsu based on both heavy and light styles, Hakuda in the heavy style and Incredible Kido skills. Only bit lacking was your Hoho, Tessai was going to have me teach you that, but events kinda changed too fast" "Well, that was me in the past Yoruichi, as you said already. Unlike you, I have been practicing like hellfire to get stronger. My Zanjutsu still is all round, but I've mastered a few new skills from Taiyou, my Hakuda I've improved to include both heavy and speed styles, I can use up to level 40 in both styles of Kido without naming, around level 80 in both eisohaki. And although only recently, I have started to learn shunpo."-Yoshirou summarised. Yoruichi whistled in approval at the long list of skills. "Well, I'm guessing that means Soi Fon has been helping you out if youv'e learnt speed style Hakuda, a dunce at Hakuda like yourself would have no chance in self teaching that style."-Yoruichi laughed.

"I wonder what you had to offer in order to get her as a teacher; she didn't strike me as the type to patiently teach her skills to others." "Hell, that wasn't patience she used, it was how far over the cliff edge can you fly method, I have never had a tougher regimen for lessons before. And for what I offered in return, she seemed determined to learn how to control the flow of reiatsu to use kido, although I'm not sure why, she didn't ask me to each her any kido at all, just how to control the flow." That statement seemed to surprise Yoruichi, before she broke out in a wide grin. "Well, I do believe my little successor is trying to learn Shunko." "Shunko?"-Yoshirou asked, unfamiliar with the term. "Yeah, it's a Kido and Hakuda fusion technique, although not one I showed her, she must have come up with it for herself. It's a pretty difficult technique, since you have to harness the physical side of reiatsu for the Hakuda power, and the flow of Reiatsu for the Kido side." "Really?"-Yoshirou said, thoroughly interested at the prospect. **That sounds pretty interesting, let's give it a shot.** Yoshirou started pulling on his reiatsu, focusing on both of the terms that Yoruichi had outlined. "Err, Yoshirou I wouldn't advise you try using it right now."-Yoruichi said. "It's probably an easy skill for you to learn, but…" It was a bit too late for the warning, a wave of energy blasted about Yoshirou as he succeeded in fusing the two energies; golden spikes appearing about his reiatsu signature and destroying the rocks about him.

"Wow, I can see why she wanted to try this." Yoshirou said as he felt the energy blasting throughout his body. "It really is a useful technique, although…" Stopping his reiatsu flow, he stopped his newly acquired skill. "I don't think it's one I can make use of, there's no way I could use kido in this state." "That's what I tried warning you, and now you're going to have to put up with the side effect."-Yoruichi chided him. Confused, Yoshirou wondered why the cavern felt slightly colder, until he looked down at the ruined mess of his Shihakshou. "Crap." The material had been ripped to pieces from the shoulder parts, and now loosely dangled from the belt that he used to close the Shihakshou, leaving his torso completely open to view, and judging from the wolf whistle from Yoruichi, this was just going to cause more things for her to use against him. "Nice, you always did have a slender frame, but you've worked out from the last time I saw your body." "Can it, last time you saw my body was when you crashed the shower room at Byakuya's place to try and catch him unawares." "Yeah, but he wasn't there…still fun memories!" **Why does she always insist in teasing people? **"When did you get that one?"-Yoruichi asked, pointing to the scar on his stomach. "Tch, that was a lesson in what I have to protect, I'm sure you saw this one before."-Yoshirou answered. "No, the other one I meant, on your shoulder." "Well point in the right direction dammit! That was a little argument me and Byakuya had just before you guys gate crashed Seireitei." "Ah yes, finishing an argument with a bloodbath, oh how I miss those day's."-Yoruichi wistfully said.

"Didn't help most of the arguments were because of you."-Yoshirou muttered. That one was half true, but to be more accurate, it was because Yoshirou poked fun at how Byakuya was treated by Yoruichi, and that lead to the fights. "Anyway, you wanted to practice right? I'm guessing that means Hakuda then, since I'm probably gonna make a mess of this place if I started using Kido." Yoshirou, ignoring his now absence of his Shihakshou, started doing a bit of stretching of his own. "Not quite, I want you to try using your sealed zanpakuto with your Hakuda. I doubt highly you will ever enter a fight using purely Hakuda, your just not the type, granted you have spectacular style in your Hakuda, but your restricting your abilities without your zanpakuto."-Yoruichi replied, "Well, this won't go quite so smoothly since undoubatbly this will be your first time using this style, also I'm still pretty bushed from lugging that idiot about Soul Society, so we are just going to practice with small engagements, rather than a drawn out fight, so whenever your ready, we'll start."

Yoshirou decided to fake one more stretch, before suddenly using shunpo halfway through it to arrive right in front of his target, his fist heading straight for Yoruichi's head. "Good, making the first strike unexpected!"-Yoruichi praised as she quickly dodged beside the blow, sending her own fist right at Yoshirou. He caught the fist with his off hand, quickly drawing his zanpakuto in a reverse grip and slashing across the space Yoruichi was standing. More correctly, had been standing; she had broken the grip on her hand and vaulted over him, using his arm to balance herself. "You have improved! No open spots except going above!"-Yoruichi said, before trying to drop her heel down on his head. Yoshirou managed to step aside a fraction of a second before Yoruichi's blow landed, stepping back as she stood. Correcting the grip on his zanpakuto, he slashed down at her, but Yoruichi caught the blow between both palms. "First mistake, don't use your zanpakuto if your opponent is ready! Only strike if their still avoiding your last attack or have left you an opening. If you don't, the attack gets countered!"-Yoruichi chided as she pulled the sword, intent on throwing zanpakuto and owner away. However, Yoshirou had let go of his blade, opting to ditch the sword to use the opening she had left him, only an immediate shunpo saved Yoruichi from being decked into the dirt.

Reappearing with Yoshirou's zanpakuto a bit further away, Yoruichi let out a disappointed sigh. "Really, you let me take your zanpakuto from you to get the blow? That's an incredibly naïve and stupid idea, it might work against an amateur, but you wouldn't have lost the blade in the first place against one, I'm rather disappointed." Yoshirou just grinned back at her, holding out his sword hand beside him. Suddenly Yoruichi realised that the weight in her hands was gone, surprised, she looked at her hands. Where the sword had been, there was only a long shaft of light, which quickly dispersed in Yoshirou's direction, reforming into the katana shape before his open hand before he grabbed a hold of the sword. "Really, I'm surprised you wouldn't have considered someone as good as me would let you get their sword without a back up plan Yoruichi."-Yoshirou replied. "Oh wow, that is a nifty little trick you've got there. That zanpakuto of yours does indeed have a tendency to be rather surprising." "Really? I thought this was a common trick of all elemental zanpakuto's?"

"Well… thinking on it every elemental zanpakuto I've seen does seem to have some hidden trick to it now you say that. Yamamoto's sword changes form while it is still sealed, and as far as I know, Hitsugaya's sword seems to disperse it's sheath when it is drawn, maybe yours just takes it that bit further?"-Yoruichi said thoughtfully, before shrugging her shoulders. "Well, handy or not there's no use if you can't use it in battle, and it seems that it takes too much concentration to use it mid-fight." "Really? I haven't tried using it in combat, but I bet I could find a way. Hey maybe I could try it now?" –Yoshirou suggested as he got ready to attack again. Yoruichi grinned at his eagerness, and this time she started, dashing straight at him. Yoshirou immediately slashed at Yoruichi, but his sword met air, she had used shunpo right as she reached him. Realising his mistake, Yoshirou quickly back flipped, barely avoiding Yoruichi's attack from behind. She seemed slightly surprised that he had reacted that fast, before aiming a kick at him before he could land. However, Yoshirou managed to step on her leg rather than take the attack, using Yoruichi's earlier tactic of dropping his heel on his foe. Rather than dodge, Yoruichi crossed both arms above her head and took the full force of his kick, before pushing back once again opening a distance between the two.

Landing, Yoshirou quickly closed the gap, swapping his zanpakuto to the left side, he stabbed forward, but Yoruichi must have guessed that was coming, she moved out of its path, trying to catch Yoshirou on his open right side. Yoshirou once again aimed a punch at her, but she dodged between both outstretched arms, a massive opening available to her. However, looking up she saw his grin and suspicious, instead used shunpo to move out of her attack. Not a moment too soon it seemed, the zanpakuto had done its mysterious reforming trick, appearing in a reverse grip in his right hand, and would have been in her path had she committed to the attack. "Good, seems you already figured out one trick that could be used for, but don't grin just before your trick works idiot, you gave yourself away!"-Yoruichi chided again. She seemed to sway a tiny bit before announcing "Well, I think that will do for now, sorry but that running about Soul Society earlier really did make me tired, and if I keep up this practice I may accidentally forget to pull my punches and give you a concussion instead, so lets leave it here for today."

"Aww and I was just about to test my newest trick."-Yoshirou said disappointedly as he sheathed his zanpakuto. "Too bad, perhaps another time. Well from what I can tell it seams' Soi Fon actually made a pretty good teacher, your move patterns have changed completely. You seem to be combining your speed with an additional amount of power in the attacks, the only reason it didn't succeed is because I'm simply that much faster than you, but no worries, chances you come across foe's that are as fast as me are pretty low. My advice would be that since your sealed zanpakuto is a malleable form, unlike most who tend to keep a particular form to their liking, if your going to use your katana reverse hand, perhaps confine the zanpakuto size to increase your swing speed. Also, don't try rushing your opponent, while your speed is nothing short of remarkable, in the off chance your foe is faster, you will be at the disadvantage if you keep making the first move. Of course, this is all only if you're planning to use a Hakuda/Zanpakuto style, since you're pretty much an all rounder, just use whatever style fits you best."-Yoruichi summarized.

**Soi Fon made a good teacher? Hell, for all of her airheaded attitude she used to show, it seems Yoruichi makes a better one.** Yoshirou thought as he pondered the advice just given to him. Satisfied with the example of prowess she had seen, Yoruichi headed towards the ladder, saying-"Well Yoshirou, it probably won't be much longer until Ichigo wakes up, although it's hard to tell in this cave, we have been down here about 2 hours already. Now, I've already decided what I want to do with Ichigo in preparation for his fight with Byakuya, but if you have any free time, perhaps you could help him with something else…"

(Elsewhere in Soul Society) (P.O.V Change)

"You're not going to sleep yet? You'll make yourself sick you know?"-Ishida asked as he walked into their shelter for the night. Inoue was standing beside a small table, her powers at work over a tiny spirit that lay on the table. "Yeah… I'll just be a little longer."-Inoue quietly replied. **Well, it seems she isn't going to rest properly again. **Ishida thought. **That is going to be the second time, she didn't rest yesterday either.** Thinking on something to say, Ishida asked-"Is Tsubaki doing any better?" "He's not healed yet… back then I…lost the battle of will, that's why…"-Inoue replied, not finishing what she was saying. One of the spirits on the table turned to apologise. "Sorry, Orihime-san. Healing one of our own takes a certain knack" Inoue walked closer, kneeling down beside the table until she was level with the injured spirit. "I'm sorry" she said to the spirit in question. **Damn, she's getting depressed over her loss. **

"Itt'll be okay, Inoue-san. Your Shun-Shun-Rikka have incredible powers."-Ishida reassured her. "That is correct! Doubt in your heart directly influences our power, hence, we need you to be strong, Orihime-san"-another spirit on the table agreed. "But…" "Let's practice more! So you can drop the magic words and just call us by our technique names."- Another spirit interrupted, trying to keep an upbeat attitude. "If you do, we will be able to protect you more promptly." Another spirit agreed. "hmm…yes…"-Inoue replied, but her attention was on the injured spirit, who seemed to be stirring. The spirit woke up, and seeing Inoue beckoned her closer. Leaning in, Inoue asked "What is it?" "Just wait a little longer, I'll get better soon." The injured spirit reassured her, despite his normal method of talking being attacking Inoue for whatever mistake she may have made. Reassured that he was okay, Inoue smiled as she said "Yeah."

**Well it's good she's feeling better** Ishida thought as he sat down to rest for a while. **We can't afford any more hesitation; we are still in a dangerous position. So far we have gotten through alright by avoiding patrols and not drawing attention to ourselves. Our enemies have either been relatively weak, or rather opposed to fighting us. Once again, I feel glad that we got the information off of the last man we fought. If we had revealed ourselves accidentally to somebody who was a bit less willing to be nice in our attempts to get information, things may have turned out much worse for us. As it is, I learned two important things, our destination, and that we are being followed. I haven't been able to sense that other presence since last time, but that mean's nothing, I didn't pick up on him initially, it was only that our foe gave his location away that I would have noticed at all, he could be hiding in this room and I really wouldn't know. **Now slightly paranoid, Ishida used his senses to sweep the room for reiatsu. Asides from noticing there was a rat hanging around outside, he found nothing. **Well, now that I know we have a follower, I can be better prepared for anything that might happen; he won't catch us unawares that is for certain…**

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**Well, chapter up, chapter done. The next few chapter's are going to be a bit more difficult now, I have to combine time-lines, planning, make sure that my timing is okay and a lot of other stuff, so you will have to bear with me if I make any stupid mistakes. Chapters may take a lil longer to come out, the previous ones flowed easily as planning wise I had little to worry about, but now that i've merged the story into the canon storyline, I have to be more careful, the chapters will come, but maybe a tad slower than usual, you will have to bear with this for maybe...urm...10 chapters max probably, after that I will have freedom again, and things will come out a lot faster.**

**Now, based on a suggestion by PrimeroEspada, I am going to try splitting my story up. This one is going to continue until the end of Aizen's betrayel, then I shall start anew on a new story which continues from here, but on a new story page. This is to stop any congestion that may appear, after all what on earth will you do when your reading a 200,000 word+ story? It's a bit problematic, and most likely there is a limiter on this site to stop that exact thing. Anyhow, that's all for my usual Author-Reader update chat, see ya in the next chapter!**


	16. Chapter 16

**Oh, I got visitor's on a day when I didn't update? That is a new one, normally people only visit on the day's I update 0.0. Well, got my third suscriber this morning, hello to Crusnik77! Thank's for all you guys who do suscribe and review, it really does help me get my confidence up for writing.**

**Well today we have a rather strange chapter, among the longest I have ever written (8000+), yet shortest time gap covered in a chapter since the earlier 2000 words ones 0.0 it only spans about 3 hours of in series time, a rather confusing chapter. Still, devil is in the detail as they say, it's got a new plot point developed upon, so have fun reading!**

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"Well, seams' he's going to wake up any minute."-Yoruichi noted, as she stood beside Kurosaki. "I still don't think your idea is a good one, I mean to teach a novice like him Bankai in 3 days? That is really pushing the border's of believability, granted he has power to spare, and you are using a training method by Urahara, but Urahara was a damn genius, a true example of an amazing shinigami, if he barely managed to use this process, what chance in hell does the kid have?"-Yoshirou asked sceptically. He had been told earlier exactly what it was Yoruichi had planned for him after he had promised to help with her suggestion. "That and I don't see what would be the use in teaching him Kido, he's obviously a melee type, not a Kido type, and why me? I have never taught anyone in my life, surely you would be a better candidate?" "Two reasons, first off you have a better knowledge in general of Kido and a better control of it. Second, don't lie, you already said earlier you helped Soi Fon learn how to control her Kido flow, what would that be if not teaching? You have more experience in trying to teach Kido, and you managed to teach one of the most stuck up, by the book individuals that I have ever met the technique needed for it, you could teach this kid it even easier, specially if you give him a decent enough example of it's use, he may practically beg you to teach him."

**Ah crap, I knew that would come around and bite me in the arse.** "Fine, fine I got it, but don't forget I can't be here 24/7, chances are I will have only a small chance of even getting time to return." "You're here now, that's enough, I can simply organise breaks from his Bankai lessons to learn Kido whenever you make an appearance, after all Kido requires patience, not energy, it would make a good break from whatever regimen Zangetsu is going to give him."-Yoruichi retorted. Finding no way to back out of it now, Yoshirou simply hung his head in exasperation, accepting defeat. Kurosaki started to stir on the futon. "Oh, one more thing, don't do ANYTHING unless I give you the sign for the next few minutes."-Yoruichi quickly said. **What on earth could she mean by that?** Yoshirou thought, deciding that doing anything also included talking, so he should refrain.

Kurosaki started to open his eyes. "Ah, your awake, Ichigo." Kurosaki seemed to notice her, and sat up, rubbing his head. "Where is this…"-he asked, before his eyes suddenly opening fully in shock. As Yoshirou watched, he balled his fists, his face turning into pure fury. He then suddenly leapt up from the futon, grabbing Yoruichi by her clothes and slamming her against the wall. Yoshirou made to intervene, but a quick warning glance from Yoruichi stopped him. "Why? Why did you only bring me back?"-Kurosaki shouted at her. "I was the one most likely to survive if left there! Now Ganju and Hanatarou… and Rukia will all be killed!" Yoruichi kept calm, replying-"Don't be so full of yourself. Not one person there could survive against Byakuya." "You bitch!" Yoruichi glanced at Yoshirou once again. Taking this as his cue, Yoshirou silently cast a Sho (1) spell at Kurosaki, knocking him away from Yoruichi and onto the floor. Kurosaki rolled on the floor in pain coughing violently; obviously the spell had aggravated his stomach wound. **Oops, perhaps that was a bit too violent an intervention** Yoshirou realised.

"Don't make a fuss, are you trying to open that stomach wound that finally closed?"-Yoruichi asked, standing over Kurosaki. He managed to control the pain as he replied "Screw you!" Undeterred, Yoruichi continued. "Carrying one person was my maximum in order to escape Byakuya for sure." "She's right you know Kurosaki, Byakuya is hellishly fast, escaping from him even without carrying a person would be hard, there's no way she could have escaped carrying more than one."-Yoshirou agreed. However, Kurosaki ignored him, staying focused on Yoruichi. "Then…why not leave me and take Rukia?" **Idiot, if she did that, there would be no way Ukitake could have stopped Byakuya from killing you all **Yoshirou thought. Of course, Kurosaki didn't know of these circumstances so he kept silent. Yoruichi started pacing away, probably thinking on what to say next. "Certainly, there was no one there at that moment who held a possibility of defeating Byakuya, even among all of us, only one of our current allies has that kind of power, and he cannot fight him." Upon hearing this, Kurosaki cast a suspicious glance at Yoshirou. "I'm sorry, I do have that power, but I cannot do that. Just as you fight to protect her, I fight to protect far more than just one, I can't simply place your friend above all those I must protect, I'm sorry…"-Yoshirou apologised. It seemed those words were the right ones to assuage him, as Kurosaki stopped staring at him, instead watching Yoruichi again.

"However, you alone do hold that possibility, I brought you back because that is what I feel. Not to mention, Ukitake was also there. He is Rukia's immediate commanding officer and a duty-bound man. I know he wouldn't recklessly kill anyone who would come to save Rukia, even if they are enemies, so Ichigo, do not worry." While Yoruichi had been saying this, Kurosaki had managed to force himself to stand up. "Stay here and become stronger. As you are now, you cannot defeat Byakuya. But I will train you so that you can defeat him. And once again, save everyone at once by your hand." Upon hearing this, Kurosaki looked up once again, but rather than fury in his features, his eyes showed his determination. "Well, if you understand, follow me."-Yoruichi said as she started down the passageway to the training area. However, as Kurosaki passed Yoshirou, he suddenly stopped, slightly bemused at Yoshirou. "What?"-Yoshirou asked. "Err… what happened to your clothes?" **Crap, I forgot about that.** "Just felt uncomfortable wearing so much, that good enough?"-Yoshirou asked. Kurosaki just nodded as he continued after Yoruichi.

(Training area)

Kurosaki looked about in shock about seeing the huge cavern. "Yeah, I felt the same when I saw it." Yoshirou said. "No, I'm not shocked at the size, just that it looks so alike to the old training area I used at Urahara's store." "Wait, Urahara has a training area? He never showed me it!"-Yoshirou replied. It was about to turn into a full blown conversation when Yoruichi interrupted them with a loud cough. "How is the pain from your wounds?" "Ah, a lot better than earlier."-Kurosaki replied. "Well we have no time to wait for your full recovery. You may feel pain, but you'll have to do it anyway." "Yeah, but this place is so alike that place from Urahara's store…"-Kurosaki said. "Well you and Yoshirou are the first strangers to be let in here. Amazing isn't it?" Kurosaki seemed to ponder it for a second, before shrugging, grabbing his zanpakuto off his back. "Well whatever, no time right?"-he said as the wrapping about his zanpakuto automatically unfurled and he held the giant cleaver-like blade before him. **Wow, that zanpakuto has style** Yoshirou thought.** It has that kind of presence a shikai has, but it's sealed, I wonder what its shikai form must be then? **"Let's get started already." Yoruichi smiled slightly at his enthusiasm. "Alright."

"Then, let me first ask you, have you realised that zanpakuto is a full time released form of zanpakuto?" "It is?"-both Yoshirou and Kurosaki replied, although Yoshirou's tone was more of shock, Kurosaki's was more surprise. **What the hell is that? **"Full time released… sounds like Zaraki Kenpachi…"-Kurosaki continued, looking at his blade. "I thought it was weird 'cause the shape was so different from everyone else's. And it doesn't change shape when I call its name." "Well, I don't know about Kenpachi's sword, but I've never heard of a full time release sword, I know mine can utilise a fraction of it's abilities in it's sealed form, but I still need to release it to go all out."-Yoshirou noted. "Abilities?"-Kurosaki asked. "Yeah, all zanpakuto's have techniques that are unique to their form, mine particularly has a large amount of them, but I dunno about what a full time release can do. That thing you did when you slashed Renji earlier might be one of yours, that pure blast of reiatsu after you finish swinging. Most abilities can be discovered earlier than your zanpakuto teaches them, although the best ones are always saved till last." Once again, they were interrupted by Yoruichi.

"So you didn't realise…so you don't know that Zangetsu has another stage that can be released?" That got Kurosaki's attention as he looked surprised at Yoruichi. "Not just Zangetsu, all zanpakuto have two possible release forms. We call the first release Shikai, and the second release Bankai. The ability to achieve these two release forms… is one of the requirements to become a Captain." "required?"-Kurosaki asked, slightly confused. "The Gotei 13 Captains, asides from one, have all achieved Bankai, all except Zaraki Kenpachi. In the long history of Soul Society, he is the only one who has attained Captain rank without achieving Bankai or even knowing his Zanpakuto's name. That shows how important his combat ability and attachment to fighting was for the Gotei 13. Having fought him, you should know that better than anyone." Kurosaki was once again lost in contemplation, obviously thinking of the fight.

"Mind you, he is the only exception, even right now there is a trial for a new candidate to captaincy where his only problem is his lack of a Bankai, isn't that right Yoshirou?" Kurosaki once again turned to look at him. "Wait, you're a candidate for being a Captain? Just how strong are you?" sighing, Yoshirou said-"Well if you remember what Yoruichi said earlier, she said only one of your allies could rival Byakuya at this moment, and that's me. That makes me the technical strongest person in this room, mind you strongest or not, I wouldn't fancy my chances against Yoruichi, I like my face the way it is at the moment. Speaking of that, how did you discover it Yoruichi?" "When I was scouting about, I overheard a discussion between Kyoraku and Ukitake, he was reporting on what happened at the meeting since apparently Ukitake was bed-ridden, he mentioned it during the report, alongside multiple comments on how cute your prospective Vice-Captain is." **That womanising old man…**

"Back on topic, the difference in combat ability between the Shikai and the Bankai of the same zanpakuto, while deferring on an individual's training and degree of nature, can generally be thought of as five to ten times greater." "Ten times?"-Kurosaki said, astounded by the news. "Shocking degree of improvement isn't it? Because of it, it requires over ten year's of training, even for talented people." "W-Wait a minute! I don't have that kind of-" "Of course I know."-Yoruichi quickly interrupted Kurosaki's obvious complaint. "But there is a way. It's fraught with peril but… through a completely different method, I'm going to make you achieve Bankai in 3 days."-Yoruichi finished.

Kurosaki looked up in complete shock. "Well, that's starting tomorrow anyway, it's a bit late to begin today. However, there is one more thing. As well as learning Bankai, you are going to have a crash course in Kido during your spare time." "Kido? But I thought that the Bankai training would be what I am doing."-Kurosaki asked in confusion. "Well, the method I was talking about is very dangerous, due to the strain on your soul, learning Kido on the side will both give you the rest time you need, and another rather useful skill. I have no doubt you have experienced Kido before?" "Yeah, when I first met Rukia, she sealed my arms with a spell of some kind, but that kind of ability was really weak, why would I need it?" Yoshirou couldn't stop himself, he had to laugh. "Weak? Kurosaki, your kind of insulting me, I happen to be a person who believes Kido is a very efficient ability, now lets see, can you describe the spell that was used?"

"Erm, I think she said something about Bakudo, some kinda number and another name. Whatever it was, my arm was stuck behind my back, but I broke it as a human, it's weak." "Well, that was number 1, the spell known as Sai." Yoshirou pointed at Kurosaki, before swiping his hand to the side. Suddenly Kurosaki found his hand pulled up behind his back, exactly like had happened before. "Now, break it with your oh so brilliant power." Kurosaki tried to simply shrug his shoulder to break it, but had no luck; it wasn't until he started deliberately pulling on his reiatsu that it broke. "Well, at least you broke it, but I could have killed you in that time, now do you see what it's capable of?" Kurosaki looked at him in surprise. "How come that took so much to break? Rukia's spell was much weaker!" Yoshirou rolled his eyes before replying "Well you just said it, that was Rukia's spell, this is my spell. I didn't even need to use an incantation; with a simple hand movement I could do that."

Taking a stance, Yoshirou continued. "Now, watch my hands." He pulled his hand back, and a shield formed before the back of his hand. "That's no.08, Seki, try hitting it with your zanpakuto." Kurosaki did just that, although he purposefully held back on the swing. His expression still showed surprise when his zanpakuto was thrown back. Yoshirou moved into the opening and placed a palm on Kurosaki's torso "Bakudo no. 63, Sajo Sabaku!" Kurosaki looked in surprise as golden chains of light wound about his arms and chest, then tightened. "Now, I held back on restraining you with that, after all you're still injured, but you have no hope of breaking that. Try it if you want." Indeed Kurosaki tried, but even pulling on all of his reiatsu, he couldn't break the chains about his body. After about 2 minutes of trying, he looked at Yoshirou with a rather pissed off expression. "Nice, but can you get rid of it now?" "Hahaha, see what I mean? You just got completely stopped by that skill you called useless, for a person like yourself; Kido is a very formidable enemy."-Yoshirou announced as he broke the spell. "Now, Kido has more than just that, there's Hado as well. Have you ever seen a Hado before?" Kurosaki just gave him a blank look.

"Well, watch this one then." Yoshirou announced as he turned, pulling on his reiatsu. He stretched one arm out, restraining it with the other arm. "Yoshirou, if you damage this place, I swear I will kill you."-Yoruichi announced from the side, having recognised his pose. "Don't worry, I'll set it to detonate before it hits anything, now this one is a rather high one, highest I know with Eisohaki, anyway here we go." Kurosaki was interested now, having heard it was his strongest kido, although he had no clue what he meant by Eisohaki. "Hado no.88, Hiryugekizokushintenraiho!" Yoshirou shouted, his arm shaking as it released the force from his spell. For a fraction of a second, the entire chamber seemed to fall silent, then the blast came out, a seemingly huge beam of funneled electricity flew from his hand, the air of its appearance enough to nearly topple Kurosaki. It travelled a small distance into the air, before reaching the middle of the chamber. It then practically exploded, raining lightning about the place with a huge wall of force completely knocking Kurosaki over. Both Yoshirou and Yoruichi managed to stay upright, but only because they had both braced themselves for the blast.

Now slightly out of breath, Yoshirou walked over to the downed Kurosaki. "So, figure that might be any use to you?"-he asked. "Well, not really." **What?** Yoshirou thought as Kurosaki stepped up. "Don't get me wrong, it looks like an amazing skill, but Rukia told me she is over 10 times my age, looking at you, you look older still, I don't have that kind of time to master Kido like you guys have." "Well that was kind of rude, I do not look that old, compared to a human, I probably look about eighteen, in fact I look especially young for my age, I'm only a few decades younger than Yoruichi." "Was there some kind of hidden comment in that Yoshirou?"-Yoruichi asked in a rather dangerous tone, making Yoshirou gulp. "Okay, bad comparison, of course Yoruichi looks young as well... Ah! That's a good one; I'm nearly the same age as Byakuya." "Byakuya? But he looks like he's over twenty!"-Kurosaki exclaimed. "Well, my age asides, it took us years because we had to gain our skills in time with our powers. Since you're already Captain-Class, then you should be able to use Kido to some extent, it's worth a shot anyway, and it will be a good break from the hell you're going to go through."

"Okay then, I'll learn Kido from you and Bankai from Yoruichi then?"-Kurosaki asked. "Not exactly, you will learn Kido from me, and Bankai from Zangetsu, Yoruichi is merely providing some guidance, plus if you have time she will probably teach you shunpo as well." "Wait, Zangetsu will teach me?"-Kurosaki asked confused. "Ah yes, that will be materializing your zanpakuto spirit, we can cover that tomorrow, but for now, you can see an example. Yoruichi, could you materialize yours?"-Yoshirou asked. "No, I didn't bring my zanpakuto with me, can't hold it in my cat form, why don't you show him yours?" "Oh, but I thought your zanpakuto might know more, after all I haven't actually gotten Bankai, oh well." Drawing his zanpakuto, Yoshirou concentrated upon it for a second, willing the materialization. Once again, his blade glowed gold, before the light lifted from the blade, flowing into a shape beside him. Turning to Kurosaki, he said "This is my zanpakuto, Taiyoukousen." Kurosaki said nothing, staring in shock at the sight before him. **Well, its to be expected, the first time you see a zanpakuto spirit form **he thought. Suddenly, he heard Yoruichi laughing. "Yoshirou, perhaps you should actually take a look at why Ichigo is saying nothing!" Confused, Yoshirou looked back at Kurosaki; his face had turned an alarming red colour. Still confused, he turned to his zanpakuto spirit before realizing exactly what Yoruichi was laughing at, and what had turned Kurosaki red.

"Taiyou, why in hell are you like that!" "Like what?"-Taiyou replied innocently. "Why in hell are you naked!"-Yoshirou shouted back at her. Sure enough, his zanpakuto spirit had for some reason materialized entirely naked, her normal brown kimono nowhere to be seen. "Well, what you told me earlier seemed to make sense, when a man sees a naked woman, their attention is drawn to them, so I figured the easiest way to make you listen to me would be to try it myself next time you either go into your own soul, or if you materialize me, just bad luck you chose the latter and ended up with two other people seeing me." "I didn't mean it that way! Look, doesn't matter, just get some clothes on or Kurosaki is going to pass out from blood rush."-Yoshirou said, trying to act as though it wasn't affecting him, although his own furiously red face entirely gave it away. Laughing, Taiyou stated-"I can understand what Yoruichi meant by saying clothes are uncomfortable now, it does feel relaxing not wearing them." "Look, either get clothes on or I'll just dematerialize you."-Yoshirou said, his head still rolling from shock of the sight, and battling with other emotion's he didn't feel like admitting to himself. "Okay then, spoilsport." Taiyou said as a glow resettled about her body, reforming the brown kimono with its gold leaf pattern. Pulling her hair out from underneath it, Taiyou looked back at Yoshirou with a smile on her face.

Sighing, and shutting away his annoying emotions, Yoshirou made to apologize to Kurosaki, but Yoruichi suddenly called across-"You hypocrite Yoshirou, you went at me for my attitude towards clothes, but you have such a beautiful girl posing naked for you on her materialization? What kind of master are you?" "SHUTUP!"-Yoshirou shouted back at her, before once again turning to Kurosaki. "Now, sorry about that earlier bit, just her humor sense, anyway this is my zanpakuto's materialized form. As you can see, mine takes a human form; each zanpakuto will vary its form according to the form its soul represents. Your Zangetsu also takes a human form if I'm right, so it shouldn't seem so strange to you to see Taiyou… well okay the way she was a second ago, that would surprise anyone, myself included. She's never appeared like that to me before, it was because of how I had reacted to Yoruichi before that she did it. Now materialization normally takes a long time to achieve, but like I said, we can go over it tomorrow."

"Well, now that Yoshirou has finished talking, as he said my name is Taiyou. Just like your own zanpakuto, the materialised form has it's own personality, it's own form. Materialising a zanpakuto is nearly always for training purposes, since it is extremely taxing on the user to have a zanpakuto materialised. Yoshirou is a weird exception, since I can be materialised for long amounts of time with little effect, and I rather enjoy my time's materialised, since I seem to have inherited his love of freedom. Even the other day, rather than take his Vice-Captain with him, he instead materialised me for the entire day while going about his work, so I am a bit different to the ideal zanpakuto."-Taiyou said to the astounded Kurosaki, who seemed to have recovered from his embarrassment fit.

"Okay, okay, that's enough for tonight!" Yoruichi said "Yoshirou, you will be staying here tonight and can help me in the morning in dealing with Ichigo. Ichigo, you had best go get your rest now, it's going to be hell tomorrow!"

(2 hours later) (P.O.V change)

Yoruichi had just come back from scouting about, seeing whether any new intel could be gathered. Finding only information that Kenpachi had indeed survived his fight, and was recovering at his own squad was about all she found out. Looking about the cave, she spotted the two sleeping men. Yoshirou had set up another futon on the opposite side of the cave, and was soundly asleep. However, what surprised Yoruichi hugely was that crouching beside his bed was the materialised form of Taiyoukousen, just watching him sleeping. "Taiyoukousen, how come you're out?"-Yoruichi asked, surprising the zanpakuto. "I had actually been waiting to speak with you, it's the first chance I have had to speak with a more knowledgeable person that could help me understand something." Curious, remembering Tessai's long winded explanation of the light zanpakuto years back, Yoruichi said-"Well, whatever you want to say, say it."

"How is a shikai awoken?" The question surprised Yoruichi greatly. "Well, the zanpakuto connects to the partner, and tries to tell them their name. When the partner has developed enough that he or she could understand the additional soul within them, then they hear the name, and the shikai is awoken. But surely you know this? Didn't you tell him your name?"-Yoruichi asked. "My name? Yoshirou gave me my name, I didn't know it before he named me." Yoruichi was confused and astounded. **How could a zanpakuto not know its name? I know that Tessai said the light zanpakuto had some strange attributes to it, but he never said anything about that! **"Well, perhaps I could understand better if you try telling me everything about yourself from the beginning."

"Well, okay. But the story is a long one, and don't tell Yoshirou I told you. Well, when I first came into existence, if that's what you would call it, I didn't have any conscious thought. I was just a mass of emotions, negative ones. Hurt, upset, fear, anger, rage, all knotted about an intense feeling of pain. I had no form, no memories, nothing. I didn't even know what I was. This was all back when Yoshirou was young. At the time I didn't know it, but Yoshirou was massively known as a violent trouble maker, a really bad kid. However, it wasn't his fault, up to that time he had been perfectly normal, exactly like he is nowadays. It seems my own emotions conflicted inside his soul, and caused him to act that way. I think if this had gone on, I could have ended up hurting him badly, but at the time I didn't know it. Then one day, I felt his soul cover my own. It wasn't subjugation, so to say, but his own emotions and feelings covered my own, and drowned everything out. His sense of freedom, his happiness, his laziness, everything. Not just positive, but negative emotions too, all of his personality was kind of forced upon my soul. I say forced, but it wasn't that, more he just showed me what it was his soul was made of, and made me see it. He told me later that he didn't know how he did it, he just felt sick of getting into trouble because of "something inside" and decided to change it."

"I still didn't have any form or anything at that time, but all the pain that I felt regressed. The emotions were still there, but I couldn't feel the pain, his emotions and experiences covered the pain I should have felt. Without the pain, I slowly started to gain real consciousness, I could recognise that I was within his body; I could sense his feelings, his emotions. I could also define my own emotions, but they were all still negative. It was about this time that Yoshirou tried to talk to me. Inside his own thoughts, he would always try to tell me things. He wasn't sure whether I existed or not, but he decided to try all the same. However, I could never reply, I didn't know how. I wanted to, since he would always try to contact me, but I couldn't understand how to. As the years went on, he was accepted into the shinigami academy, his skills were exemplary, although he wasn't committed towards doing so. Instead, he spent all of his time trying to contact me, again and again, never worrying that his attempts might be futile."

"One day, he learnt about the zanpakuto's. He decided that I did truly exist, I must be his zanpakuto. I didn't know, I could remember nothing about myself or what I truly was. However, one day he learnt to go inside his own soul. He faced my form, being nothing but a roiling cloud of emotion, and asked me what I was, and whether I could become his partner. However, something went wrong, the contact from within my own soul awoke the pain that I had forgotten, and I lashed out. Back on his real body, his own asauchi exploded from the force, badly damaging him. In making first contact with me, he took the pain that I suffered himself. However, he never told anyone that it was me. The feeling that I felt from what had happened was new to me, remorse. I felt guilty that I had put him in such pain just like I was. It was about that time that I tried contacting him myself, I realised that I did desire to be his partner, this person who had tried to do everything to accommodate me."

"One day he came up with a new theory, maybe if he figured out my name, I could be his partner. He spent months and months trying, different names and different ideas. None worked, although I tried to tell him that I appreciated his effort, I could never make myself heard. It wasn't that he could not hear me, but I could not speak to him. One day, he was simply out in the garden, taking a break like he loved to. He then told me _I love the times when I can simply sit here and let everything pass about me, seeing the sky is refreshing, watching the leaves fall is nice, seeing the sun shine warms your heart. But the sun has more purpose than just that, every morning it shines. It shows everyone that they should wake up, come and appreciate the world about them. Loads of people see it as a burden, but even though I'm a lazy type, I love the sun, it reminds me that I should enjoy everything about me, that I should miss nothing, the rays of light that awake me every morning are what let me appreciate my freedom. _He then asked me_ is that what you are, my rays of light? Is that your name, Taiyoukousen?"_

"It was then that I awoke, I gained my real form, not only as a zapakuto, but as myself. I could finally forget the pain. It was also the moment that I realised what the pain really was, the lack of having a purpose. That was also the first time that I spoke to him, that I really accepted him as my partner, my Aruji. It was also the time that my own personality, my real form, everything came altogether, all because he gave me a name, Taiyoukousen. All because he gave me a purpose, the purpose of reminding him to appreciate his freedom. It's also I think the reason why we seem to have a closer connection than a normal zanpakuto and master, after all I have my own freedom, me being materialised right now is proof of that. My master is asleep, yet I am awake, it's impossible normally for a zanpakuto to be materialised with their owner unconscious."

**How strange** Yoruichi thought. **So it seams' Tessai's theory may have been right all along, this zanpakuto is really the incarnate form of the original, Tengoku no Shibou. But this story defies belief; it's to say that rather than Taiyoukousen being different, it's identical in its soul destructive ability which lead to that event 1000 years ago. What defies belief is that Yoshirou was able to not only survive the process, but reshape the zanpakuto according to his own soul. He isn't in tune with his zanpakuto; it's his zanpakuto that is in tune with him so to say. Just who or what is he that he could stop that which nearly destroyed Soul Society so long ago with merely his will? Tessai will have a field day when I tell him this tale.**

"Well, I think indeed that you are different compared to normal. However, the real unique one is him; he could define his zapakuto's form with his own soul, which is not a normal skill. Which family did he come from originally?"-Yoruichi asked. "I don't know, he told me ages ago that his name, Yoshirou Kenshin, was a made up one. It's Kanji stand for Righteous Son, Modest Truth. He has no clue as to his original family was, he was found abandoned in Rukongai. I'm perhaps the only person he ever confided that fact to; I would appreciate if you keep that fact to yourself as well."-Taiyou answered. "Well, there's something that's been bugging me, why has Yoshirou not reached Bankai yet? He's at a point where it should be relatively simple to gain." "I don't know how I am supposed to test him. In order to subjugate the zanpakuto, you must be able to defeat them in their test, but I don't know how to go about it."-Taiyou responded. Yoruichi thought for a moment, before asking "What is the chance you don't have a Bankai, being a different kind of zanpakuto and all?" "None, although my role was defined by Yoshirou, I truly am a zanpakuto now, part of his soul and as such I do have a Bankai, I can sense it myself. However, I just don't know how to test whether he is worthy of it or not."

There was silence between the two, before Taiyou asked "Is it normal for a zanpakuto to have feelings for their master?" "Yes, they are partners, one depends upon the other for strength, and that brings about mutual trust and respect, even adoration in certain more egotistical zanpakuto's, there's nothing surprising about that." "That's not what I meant…" Yoruichi just stared. **I remember Urahara having a small talk about that with me, but that was the case of adoration that I described, he had no real feelings so to say for his zanpakuto, after all they were one and the same. He's the only person I know who had a different gender zanpakuto, but this isn't a normal case, what could it mean… **However, before she could say anything, she felt a crushing reiatsu from outside the cave. Turning in surprise, she recognised the reiatsu signature, but she could feel she was too far away to do anything about it. **Wait, there's two… the reiatsu I'm sensing is even greater than the captain he is facing!**

(Another location in Seireitei) (P.O.V change)

**I am sorry Sensei…just once more, I must…disobey you. *crack***Sanrei glove, bow and Shihakshou seemed to disintegrate about Ishida as he watched his opponent, before the whole area about him erupting in a pillar of pure reiatsu. His opponent, none other than Mayuri, seemed shocked by the entire affair before him. "What…What is that?" As he looked on, the reiatsu changed into a spinning circle, revolving about at high speed close to the ground, revealing a kneeling Ishida. He slowly stood up, adjusting to the new clothes he had and noticing the concentration of reishi on his back. **How quaint, it's where the quiver would be for an archer. **Concentrating on his foe, the reiatsu disc around him dispersed with a quick gust of wind. He could see the fear in the eye's of his foe. "Wh-What is that costume! What is that reiatsu! I've never heard of such a thing. That…" However, noticing the buildings about them were starting to disintegrate, he stopped talking, instead resorting to staring in shock as the buildings converted into reishi and flying straight into the wing protruding from Ishida's back.

As Ishida finished absorbing all the nearby structures in a circle about him, Mayuri gave him a strange look, trying to hide the fear in his expression. "You're exceeding the range of power permitted to humans, little boy!" However, Ishida completely ignored him, instead concentrating on his next move. Raising a hand, he gathered the reishi from the wing in his hand, forming the shape of an arrow. Mayuri, realising he planned to attack, leapt back to give himself room to dodge. However, Ishida fired right in this movement gap, while simultaneously leaping into the air, charging another arrow. Mayuri saw the first shot, barely moving his head out of the way of the arrow, but Ishida appeared right over him, firing another shot which slammed straight into the captain's body, sending him straight into the ground in a large explosion of dust.

He prepared to continue firing into the dust, to utterly destroy this disgusting creature before him, to avenge those countless men who had suffered under his hand, but suddenly remembered two things. First, the eye's of the concerned woman watching, even as she lay on the floor in pain, and the words of the man who had helped them, _try to keep all casualties to a minimum, personal favour to me for the info, okay? _**But he deserves no mercy! Such scum should be killed!** His thoughts raged, but then he looked down and saw the eyes of the Vice Captain once again, looking on in concern. **…No, if I just kill him like this, I will have just become him, destroying the lives of those who care for him, even if their feelings are wrong. **Instead, Ishida pent up all of his hatred, diverting his fall towards the ground a few metres back. "Weep and beg forgiveness, and never again show yourself to me! If you do, I will let you go now."

(Cave)

"It's hard to believe, but I think that's Ishida actually overpowering a captain, and with ease."-Yoruichi told Taiyou, who was also trying to make sense of the reiatsu signatures she could sense. However, no sooner had Yoruichi said that then another change occurred. The reiatsu of the captain shot up once again. It still didn't quite rival the reiatsu Ishida was putting out, but Yoruichi knew that wasn't the problem. **Mayuri had one hell of a nasty shikai type, it was based on poison, no doubt his Bankai will be an even more destructive poison ability.** "Ishida is in trouble now…Mayuri was always a rather nasty piece of work, even if his reiatsu is still lower, he will have some nasty trick to backstab him, probably poison based."-Yoruichi said. Taiyou looked up "Should I wake Yoshirou then?" Yoruichi considered their options for a while, before making her decision. "No, no matter what he can't afford to be recognised as on the Ryoka side, I'll go. Although I don't look it, I have healing skills as well, and I'm faster than Yoshirou, I think I should be able to help him if worst comes to worst." Yoruichi said, preparing to step outside to go to the aid of Ishida, although she knew the fight would probably be decided before she reached the place.

(Fight Location)

**That bastard, I gave him every chance to retreat, to live, but he had to choose to do this.** Ishida thought as he took in a deep breath and held it, hoping to lessen the effects of the poison cloud roiling about him. **This probably won't stop it, this poison is probably contact absorbed rather than needing to be breathed to have effect, but I can slow the onslaught if I hold my breath.** Across the battlefield, Mayuri cackled in insane glee at the situation, even though his arm was completely destroyed from Ishida's earlier attack. Mayuri thought his foe was probably trembling before the power before him. He was wrong; there was no fear in Ishida. He had been surprised by the appearance of the monster, but he didn't care. All the feelings for his grandfather, for those numerous Quincy who had suffered by this man's hand were what was keeping him together, allowing him to stand tall against his foe and prepare to end his life. **I'm sorry, I tried to be merciful, but he chose his own demise **he internally apologised as once again he drew reishi from the wing on his back.

"Go!"-Mayuri ordered the massive beast of his Bankai, above him the Bankai suddenly sprouted dozens of blades from under its neck and charged forward, intent to impale and crush Ishida. However, there was still a distance between both Bankai and boy, and that gap was more than enough for Ishida. Drawing on his reishi, he compacted the energy, funnelling more and more into the arrow in his hand. He then put arrow to bow, drawing on the string. Restraining the amount of force he had gathered was incredibly difficult, yet he waited. At the last second before the Bankai reached him, Ishida released the arrow. The arrow sped towards its target with unbelievable speed; it connected with the Bankai and tore straight through it, continuing along its destructive path until it finished obliterating its path through the Bankai. It then sped on a long distance before detonating in a plume of pure force further away. The force of unleashing so much reiatsu in the attack had Ishida panting for breath. Luckily the arrow's force had dispelled the poison from about him so he wasn't at any risk of breathing it in. **Makes no difference, I've been standing in the poison cloud for too long.** Ishida realised as he started to feel a twinge inside his own body.

However, as bad as Ishida believed his situation to be, his enemy was in an even worse state. It surprised Ishida that his foe was still alive with such injuries; a hole had been torn straight through his body. **Damn, I knew I should have gone for the head** Ishida thought. **The arrow I fired had to be at least that powerful to stop the Bankai, but I hesitated at the last second on whether I should kill him or not. Rather than killing him straight off, all that's going to happen now is a long drawn out death from internal and external bleeding; I didn't mean to give him a painful death like this. **Before Mayuri, his entire Bankai had not only been pierced through, but the entire creature had been cut exactly in half. Slowly the two massive halves fell, crushing the walls about them. Mayuri just stood there, shaking and twitching, before suddenly screaming out "You Quincy scum!" **How on earth can he shout with his lungs so damaged?** However as Ishida contemplated this randomly, he watched as the Captain suddenly stabbed himself in the throat. **Suicide?** But it wasn't that, suddenly the body seemed to explode outwards, but in the form of a gelatinous liquid.

**The ability to liquefy what it cuts?** _So close Quincy… _**What the hell, it's able to talk! **_One last trump card, should only be used after careful consideration. _As he heard this, he suddenly realised the liquid was moving away from the clothes. "You kept that power hidden so you could escape? Damn it!"-Ishida said, pulling on his reishi once again. The wing that had disappeared from his back reformed. _It's useless, in exchange for being unable to attack in any way; I cannot be attacked in any way._ **I'll be the one to test that** Ishida thought as he brought the arrow up to his bow. _I cannot change back from this form for several day's, but…in that time I will return to the bureau and heal my wounds. _Ishida pulled on the bow string, but suddenly realised the liquid had escaped under the wall and out of his sight. _Goodbye, Quincy. It's become a bit complicated, but…I will live, and you will die. That ending will not change._

**Damn…** Suddenly, the twinge he felt earlier increased a hundredfold in pain, as he started coughing up blood. He couldn't believe the pain that he felt compared to what he thought would happen. **Twinge? Damn that was a bloody organ going! Stomach if I'm right, at this rate… **"…Quincy…san…" a tentative voice called from over by the wall. **That lady, Nemu I think. I had forgotten about her… **Ishida realised as he looked over. The woman tried to overcome the paralysis upon her body as she said-"Behind the adjutant insignia on my left arm, there is an antidote." Ishida sighed quietly as he hooked his bow onto a part of his new uniform; he then went over to help the woman sit up. However, as he pulled her up, he saw a grimace of pain in her features. "Wouldn't you be more comfortable lying down?" Ishida asked, unsure as to why he should feel so concerned for her, perhaps because she had also suffered from the same man he loathed. "No, this is fine."

Ishida finally got a chance to see her properly, she looked very much like a doll, all perfect features with no blemishes, asides the huge gash in her stomach. She had a strange kind of haircut, perfectly level across her entire forehead. He was actually surprised to see emotions showing in her eyes, some kind of compassion he thought. From the way she had talked and acted, along with the description of what she was from Mayuri, he had expected her to be more alike to a machine, yet she did show emotion towards him. He accidentally found his eyes wandering to her more than ample chest as well. Quickly trying to avert his gaze, he instead focused upon the said insignia.

"It's behind it."-Nemu explained. Reaching forward, he managed to undo the clasp on the insignia, finding the bottle inside. He looked at it, before offering it to her first, since she was paralyzed and couldn't move to drink it. "No, I am fine. My body is made from the same elements as Mayuri-sama. I will not die from this poison." Ishida was surprised at hearing this, **this means that the poison must be directly from his own blood, the man is every bit as disgusting as I thought.** Taking his silence as hesitation, Nemu asked-"Are you thinking it may be a trap?" **Huh? No, I don't believe that** he thought, but failed to say. Once again, Nemu mistook his silence as confirmation of what she thought. "In that case, please first put some in my mouth. I will drink it to show you it isn't." shaking his head, Ishida said-"No, there's no reason to go to the effort of trapping someone who would die from poison anyway." He quickly uncapped the bottle, but before he could drink from it, he heard Nemu quietly say-"Thank you very much"

Stopping himself, he turned to look at Nemu again. "If you had aimed at his head, you could have killed Mayuri-sama. But you did not." Ishida simply looked at her. **I hesitated because of your presence…** he thought, but rather than say this, he adopted a more unforgiving expression, saying "It was a coincidence. I fired with the intention of killing him." Standing up he looked down at Nemu. Her face seemed to show shock at his words, but something must have given him away, as she suddenly smiled a little before saying "You refrained from killing Mayuri-sama. The antidote is the least I could do to thank you." **Damn she is perceptive** Ishida thought. Turning his back on her to hide his features from further scrutiny, he said-"I don't understand. How can you feel that way about someone like that?" "I don't understand either. But when I realized he was alive, I was relieved." Ishida turned back again to look at her. **I think I understand it** He thought, although he wished he didn't. **He is all she knows and can care for, even if mistreated he is the only presence she knows. It's like the dog which always returns no matter how its owner beats it, it knows nothing but the loyalty it feels for its master… I really do pity her… it just makes me hate that man even more, he truly is despicable for treating such a person as nothing more than a possession, it isn't right…**

However, despite how he disliked the situation, there was nothing he could do. "Now once you've drank, please go. I will be fine. Squad members will be here soon." Realising the simple truth in her words, that as much as he stayed here and thought, it would only lead to his capture, he quickly drunk the medicine. Carefully placing the bottle down, Ishida thanked her for the medicine. Once again he saw the small smile on her face**. How can she smile when all she has is to return to that man?** Ishida pushed the depressing thought out of his mind, he had a task that he must complete, a friend was waiting for him and Kurosaki was too stupid to do this alone. He walked away, leaving Nemu sitting beside the wall. From the nearby shadow's, a cat watched his departure. Apparently satisfied with the result it saw, the cat disappeared into the night.

(cave)

Yoruichi yawned as she walked back into the cave. **So it seams' he was saved by the Vice Captain then, there was no need for me to go out. Still, I would never have believed it possible that Ishida had that much power in him. I know he refused to train with us before our assault began, but its unbelievable how much he improved over a single week, he couldn't even scratch a Menos Grande before, yet he just made holes in a Captain. There has to be something wrong, nobody can become that powerful in one go, there must be some drawback, after all I could sense his reiatsu was dropping slowly afterwards, I just hope he hasn't sacrificed too much in that fight. Looking about the cave, she noticed Taiyou wasn't in sight. She must have returned to her zanpakuto form. **Yoruichi concluded, as she pulled a futon out from the supply cache in the corner. However, she suddenly stopped as she looked over at the sleeping Yoshirou. Grinning, she suddenly was inspired to do something. Pushing the futon back, she went over to his futon, but made a double take upon seeing what was there.** Hah, beaten to it. Okay, next target then **she thought as she looked mischievously over at Ichigo's peacefully sleeping form.

* * *

**Well that one took quite a lot of thought. I redecided last night that I would make Yoshirou the focus of the story, rather than the light zanpakuto. Instead of the mystery of the light zanpakuto, we have the mystery of what the hell Yoshirou must be to be able to master something like that, dunno if it's going to work, but like I said, I just go with the flow on this story. As you can see, i'm going to start personolising excerpts from the main storyline in my own aspect as well. For now this is practically going to be the only instance, since Ishida was the last free running Ryoka, every body else has shinigami with them, but I will include more in the future.**

**I'm also considering making a pair of new charecter's for my Kido Squad. It's a random idea for now, but if I do they will only be minor charecter's, less important than Yoshirou or even Kira, it's just that I feel the need to make something to show why all the hype I have placed in the kido squad members. If I do, they will most likly be twin members of the squad, weaker than Yoshirou but currently stronger than Kira until I decide to make her go through a development change, they will stand for the current 4th and 5th seat positions (3rd and 4th after Yoshirou becomes Captain.) If I do make them, don't expect much of it for a little while, making new charecters can't be done over night.**

**Anyhow, like I said it's all theory at the moment, any input will be liked, and I still need idea's for a new Bakudo! At the moment I am going with a trap style one based about a six point star etched into a surface, which upon being triggered put's lightning tendrils on the target, stunning them with electricity and holding them in place, but I can't for the life of me create a name for it, any help on this and you will have my immense gratitude.**


	17. Chapter 17 Sparring with Ikkaku

**New chapter time! I actually completed this last night but I was kicked off the comp before I could upload it onto the site (annoying mum -.-). Anyhow, we get to see an old fan favourite charecter. By the way, for those who didn't realise, I don't give the names to my charecters UNLESS Yoshirou has actually heard them. That's why I refer to charecters by "Pink haired girl" and "ginger" before I give out there actual names, its cause i'm trying to keep it as in Yoshirou's understanding, sorry for any confusion I may have created. That and calling Ichigo "Kurosaki" and "Ichigo" by different people is in the spirit of keeping their original names together, Yoshirou has settled on calling him Kurosaki, like Ishida does. Well, enough blab, on with the story!**

* * *

Yoshirou's dreams were rather troubled that night. He kept having flashbacks of all the event's that had lead towards the current situation, his shock upon learning that he must become his squad's Captain, his mixed feelings upon hearing Hanatarou explain the situation to him, his upset and anger at Byakuya's obvious attempts to cover his emotions, his impending fear of what would happen if he kept this up could almost crush him. He was once again doing things just carelessly, but this wasn't the normal kind of thing he could crash through. One wrong step and everything was over. His consciousness felt glad when the flashback's stopped repeating themselves, but then the one subject his mind had been dreading appeared. His emotions involving Taiyoukousen. He remembered seeing her that day, and the rather disturbing string of thoughts that had ensued from it. He had always considered his zanpakuto as beautiful, there was no doubt about it, but he was now fearful that he saw her in a different light.

However, before his dream's could go any deeper on the subject, he was violently awoken by a shout across the room he was in. "WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING IN MY BED!" Opening his eyes, Yoshirou could see Kurosaki exiting his futon at tremendous speed. Standing further away, red faced as per usual, he pointed down at the person hidden under his sheets. His head still rather tired, Yoshirou tried to focus on the form in the sheets, and made out Yoruichi's mischievous smile pointed back up at Kurosaki. Judging from her shoulder's that he could see, Yoshirou assumed that she had ditched her clothes as well. "What are you talking about Ichigo? Don't you remember what happened last night? I'm not surprised; you didn't get much sleep with all of that action." "WHATEVER YOU MEAN, I DON'T CARE! JUST GET OUT AND GET YOUR CLOTHES ON!"-Ichigo shouted back. Yoruichi seemed slightly bemused that he hadn't understood the insinuations, but got over it quickly. "Well sorry, I just got inspired after what I saw in the other futon late last night."-she replied, smirking now at Yoshirou.

Kurosaki also turned to see what she meant, before surprise registered on his face. Yoshirou, still half asleep, just looked back with a bemused expression, but it suddenly went red after his mind simultaneously understood Yoruichi's words and realised there was an arm draped over his torso. Matching Kurosaki's trick of leaping out of his bed, Yoshirou turned to see exactly what he dreaded to see. Just as he feared, there was another person in his bed too, although the brown sleeve about the rather feminine looking arm confirmed that she had not parodied Yoruichi's trick. "Taiyou, why in hell are you in my bed?"-Yoshirou asked in confusion, once again wrestling with his own body to hide the ever increasing red flush on his face. Taiyou quickly got up from the sheets, straightening her robes before answering "Well, you forgot to dematerialise me last night, and the cave was relatively cold so I used your bed." "D-Dematerialise you? What the heck, you can do that on your own! Don't make excuses that make no sense!"-Yoshirou barked back. Taiyou simply rolled her eyes before saying "You slept comfortably didn't you? So what's the problem?" Yoshirou instantly shut up, he didn't want to try explaining himself at this time.

Luckily, Kurosaki chose this exact moment to commence his shouting at Yoruichi, incidentally covering for Yoshirou as he didn't have to answer his zanpakuto's posed question. "Damn it Yoruichi, will you hurry up with getting your clothes on!" "All right, all right, really you guys are such prudes! Your in situations any man would kill to be in but your both more afraid of it than anything else, I really don't get it." "JUST SHUTUP AND GET THE CLOTHES ON!" Yoshirou only sighed to himself, before doing his usual scan for reiatsu in the area. As normal he sensed none nearby, all of the captains seemed to be in their regular quarters, but then he sensed… "Shit, Inoue has been captured."-Yoshirou announced.

Kurosaki looked over with surprise in his eyes, however before he could speak, Yoshirou said more. "I think she's in the 11th division barracks, we have no hope of getting her free from there, but I don't think we need to worry. Kenpachi lives for battle, not for anything else, since Inoue offers a chance at getting you to fight him again; he probably won't have notified anybody that his squad has captured her. Knowing him, he focuses only on fighting you again, she will be safe. If it will reassure you, I can go and see for myself."-Yoshirou offered, however, he had a second niggling concern that he wanted to leave and check. **If she's there, where is Ishida? I can't sense him anywhere! I think he may have been killed… I won't know for sure until I make contact with the squads.**

Kurosaki seemed to struggle internally, he desired to go ahead and return, try and free her. But Yoshirou's insistence on her being safe finally won out. "Okay, can you check then for me? It's probably for the best you do; I want to get down to this Bankai training Yoruichi was talking about. If it can really make me strong enough to save Rukia, I want to get it done now." "All right, I'll return soon, but it may take a while, I still have some important business to take care of. Taiyou?"-Yoshirou said, looking at the zanpakuto spirit. She simply nodded, before converting back into light, returning to the sheath that Yoshirou hurriedly picked up. "All right, see ya then!"-Yoshirou said cheerfully as he used shunpo to leave. "Wait!"-Yoruichi suddenly said, but Yoshirou had already gone out of hearing distance. "Why did he have to wait?"-Kurosaki asked her, but Yoruichi had tutted in annoyance. "Has the idiot forgotten that he is still missing half of his shihakshou? Oh well, more the idiot he is, now let's go down to the training area…"

(Halfway to Squad 11)

_Are you sure you can't sense him?_

**Positive, there's something wrong for sure.** Yoshirou thought as he balanced on the tip of the building, scanning about once again for Ishida's reiatsu. Below him several Shinigami seemed to start complaining about his antics but Yoshirou didn't give a damn about their opinion, having a clear line of sight might help him sense reiatsu more clearly.

_Well, how about a different method? Try sensing his Reiraku._

**What? That's the traditional way of pinpoint searching, but I haven't relied on that in years since you gave me the ability to sense reiatsu flow directly from people, since it was handy enough to identify suppressed reiatsu and gauge an opponents full strength immediately, not to mention had a far larger effective range, I haven't practiced with that method in decades, I can't use it to recognise an individual!**

_No need to, a shinigami has red Reiraku right? Ishida is a human, his will be white._

**Oh of course!** Yoshirou realised. **Now, I just need to concentrate.** He visualised the reiryoku all about him, to his senses multiple strands of Reiraku started to float down from the sky**. There's so many of them! How on earth could anyone make sense of this mess?**

_Just focus, visualise a distinctly different soul to the rest, while it's a rather vague way of doing it, it will suffice for this, your differing a human soul from a shinigami._

**Okay.** Carefully focusing on all the souls that had a distinctly different vibe, he narrowed it down to three tapes. One was the traditional red, the other two were white. **I wonder who the red one is. Oh well, no time** he thought as he grasped each of the white threads. One of them he could feel led to the 11th division. **Inoue no doubt, now the other. **He sensed its location, but he couldn't figure out who it was. Memorising its location, he once again used his normal sensing ability….**That's Ishida alright! But why is his reiatsu so muffled?**

_Perhaps he is hiding it?_

**No, that can't be it. I would be able to sense him easily if he suppressed it, your ability let's me read the total amount regardless of what the person tries, no there's something wrong. I think it's not muffled; it's actually been forcibly removed! What the hell could happen that could forcibly strip a person of their reiatsu?**

_I don't know, but he doesn't seem to be in any fit state to continue, we have to stop him now, even an unseated could kill him in his condition right now._

**Shit.** Yoshirou immediately jumped from the top of the building; in free fall he used his shunpo against the wall, reducing the wall to rubble as he was catapulted through the air. **I have to move quickly **Yoshirou thought, ignoring the damage he left in his wake**….but perhaps I shouldn't have bust the wall, those guys are going to start bitching later…**

**(10 minutes later)**

Yoshirou quickly arrived at the location. Along the way he had started to sense odd deposits of Ishida's reiatsu on the ground, almost as though his powers were visibly falling from him. However, an odd sound coming from the top of the stairs before him made him realise that he had bigger problems. **Too late, a captain got here **Yoshirou realised as he practically leapt up the steps before him, reaching the top, he could only watch as Ishida fell to his knees, before hitting the ground unconscious. **Crap…well at least he's alive.** Yoshirou thought as he watched the captain he had sensed, Tosen, walk slowly up to the downed Quincy. Suddenly however, the captain drew his zanpakuto, poising it over the body of the boy. Shocked, Yoshirou quickly used shunpo to cover the gap between them. **20 meters, not bad** he absently thought as he quickly placed a hand under the wrist of the captain.

"Tosen-san, he's already defeated, what are you trying to do?" Tosen didn't look up or withdraw his sword. He calmly stated-"This boy and his allies are the source of much of the evil that has befallen us. They have disrupted the peace of Soul Society continuously, and have harmed many of its civilians. Capturing them would be meaningless, as there presence will simply incite anger in their captors. It is up to me to deliver justice upon him, the one who would make a mockery of justice." **Wow, talk about methodical killing** Yoshirou thought. He considered his next words carefully; they may make the difference between saving the Ryoka or his death. "Be that as it may, Tosen-san, it isn't justice to just kill this man. Although you might see it as otherwise, he believes what we are doing is injustice. We have taken one of his friends from him, criminal or not. He is doing what he can to bring about what he see's as the right justice upon us. He is misguided, but he is as much a servant of justice as you. Killing him without showing him how his justice was misguided will make you the greater criminal still." Tosen didn't make any move or acknowledgement of his words. After a few more second's, he pulled back his arm, sheathing his zanpakuto.

"I must thank you Yoshirou, I may have been about to make a grave mistake. You are right in your own way, it would be injustice to not show him fair trial. It may cause unrest to house a criminal, but it will not be justice unless he is taught the error of his ways. That and I just realised they may hold information regarding Aizen, they must be kept alive if they know what truly happened." Tosen kneeled on the ground, carefully picking the Ryoka up. "I will deliver him to the 4th squad, I don't understand the nature of his injury, but I think it would be extensive poison. He somehow must have gotten cured of it, but he still suffers from the damage. I shall not attempt to kill him, be assured." Tosen said as he started to walk away. However he suddenly stopped. Without turning around, he said "Perhaps I was wrong to believe you do not understand justice. I am sorry that I did not trust you enough to support your promotion to Captain." He then continued walking down the steps.

**Well, I'm glad I managed to diffuse that situation** Yoshirou thought. **Tosen seems a man of his word, if he said he would take him to the 4****th**** squad, he will. **Yoshirou then remembered what he thought a bit earlier. Using his shunpo quickly, he tried to cover as much distance as he could in one step. Once again he reappeared at twenty metres away**. Well, seems it's improving, I managed to get here without even feeling tired, but my distance isn't improving fast enough **Yoshirou thought.** If I want to help the Ryoka, I will need to be able to move faster than this, perhaps I can talk to Yoruichi about it. Now, my next stop will be to find Inoue, judging from the contact with the Reiraku, she's stressed but not in any danger. **Yoshirou thought as he once again prepared to use shunpo again, pointing himself back in the direction he came from.

(P.O.V change)

Tosen continued on his walk, carefully carrying his cargo with him while contemplating how much time it would be before he had to head to the Central 46 chambers for the meeting with Aizen. As he walked, a presence joined him. Gin was just staring strangely at the recumbent boy slung over Tosen's shoulder. "Ya didn' kill him? Aizen ain't gonna b' happy when he 'ears this." "There was nothing I could do, the Yoshirou boy interfered. Aizen's orders were to not raise any suspicion about the boy, and not to engage unless there is no other choice. There would have been no point in fighting him just to finish this Ryoka. However, I am suspicious as to his purpose; I believe he may be openly aiding the Ryoka now."-Tosen quietly stated. "Then why don' we jus' reveal 'im then?"-Gin asked "As I stated, Aizen said raise no suspicion about the boy that also includes putting any suspicion on his activities, as long as he believes himself to be safe, he will remain predictable, it's once he is in danger that things may turn for the worse. If he decides to move earlier than we are ready for, then it would require Aizen's intervention to solve the problem. That is something that must not happen."-Tosen explained "If all that I must do is refrain from killing this Ryoka, it will be an easier option rather than doing anything to antagonise the situation. Asides that, are you ready for the trial that will be coming? Hitsugaya will soon put the puzzle pieces together, and he will come for you." "No need ta worry 'bout tha'. I'm jus' gonna bus' my poor, poor subordinate ou' of his cell t'nigh', as lon' as he's wi' me, Toshiro will no' be able t' figh' with his full power 'gainst me."-Gin explained.

(Squad 11 barracks)

**Well this is the place** Yoshirou thought, looking about the grounds. As far as his eye could see, there were very few shinigami about, and those that were about seemed to be nursing multiple injuries. **Seems the reports weren't joking, these guys are down to nothing. **However, judging from the glares he received as he crossed towards the training area, the fighting spirit of the squad had not yet been quashed. As he entered the training room, the place he figured he would most likely find someone important, he had to dodge as a man suddenly came tumbling across the room, smacking into the wall. "All right, whose next!" a bald headed man called from the centre of the room, lazily holding his practice sword against his shoulder. "Any of you wimps man enough to come take me then!" **What the hell!** Yoshirou thought. **That man is practically blazing with reiatsu! He's at least a captain class fighter! **Considering his options, Yoshirou watched as another man stepped up to fight the bald man, amidst much cheering from his fellows. However, a couple of loud shouts, a few solid whacks and the man quickly exited the fight, flying back across the room to land noisily in a mess by the corner. **He's holding back severely, I'm barely sensing him using about a tenth of his strength** Yoshirou realised. Quickly stepping up, he decided to ask the bald man what he needed.

"Hello there, my name is Yoshirou Kenshin, I'm here in hopes of being able to meet Kenpachi-taichou." The bald man turned to appraise him, but apparently seemed to be disappointed at his lack of any massive muscles. "Whatever, what squad are ya from?" "Kido Corps"-Yoshirou replied, this got a huge amount of noise from the surrounding squad 11 members, who all apparently thought that hurting him would make their day better. As one, the entire motley mob of men jumped to their feet and charged him. "Really, can't I just talk to the captain?"-Yoshirou asked as he quickly sunk one fist into a meaty nose, sending the man and the three people behind them into the wall. Credit to the other idiot's, they didn't stop their charge at him, the first one tried to grab him, but Yoshirou simply moved closer, grabbing the Shihakshou of the man instead, bodily picking the man up and throwing him onto the new pile of victims he had created. "There's no need for all this."-Yoshirou complained as he felt a fist collide with his side. However, the blow was insignificant to Yoshirou, who simply kicked back in the direction of the shinigami, sending him into the opposite wall.

All throughout the short tussle, the bald headed man watched appreciatively. After the last man fell to Yoshirou's fists he laughed loudly. "Kido Corps or not, that's one mean fist you have on ya, what's your rank?" "3rd seat"-Yoshirou replied. "Well it seams' ya came dressed for a fight, nobody walks in here with his robes down unless he's seriously after a match." Looking down, Yoshirou realised his mistake, his robes were still half destroyed from the Shunko practice yesterday. "Anyway, in our squad, might means right. And Kido boy or not, you have the spirit to fight, your going to be welcome here. If you can best me, the 3rd seat of this squad, I'll happily introduce you to the captain. 3rd seat of the 11th division, Madarame Ikkaku, I accept your challenge!" Ikkaku declared as he settled into a stance, sword held out before him. "Err I'm going barehanded against a sword?"-Yoshirou asked. Ikkaku's face fell as he realised his mistake. "Damn, I forgot to give you a weapon! Okay, over there's a practice weapon rack, their all wooden Katana's, just take the one that you like, then get back here!"

**Well I didn't expect to have to fight to get an audience.** Yoshirou thought as he walked over to the rack. Studying the swords there, he quickly noticed they were all identical, so any would suffice. He picked the closest one, and returned to the middle of the room. The other men in the squad seemed to have had a change of heart, they were cheering like mad for the fight. **Ikkaku was being truthful, they simply like might here. **Yoshirou thought. "Well, I'm used to wielding a two hand sword Ikkaku so I might be at a disadvantage." "Don't bitch! I use my sheath normally; we are both fighting in the training style so just get over it!"-Ikkaku called back, although more high spiritedly than actually having a go, he seemed joyous that he had a prospect of a good fight before him. Jumping from foot to foot, he seemed to be psyching himself up for the fight. **Well, I'll let him start** Yoshirou thought, adopting a defensive pose.

Realising his intention, Ikkaku jumped the gap, swiping down on Yoshirou's head. Swaying back, Yoshirou tried to counter with a quick slash, but before he could even connect, Ikkaku's foot lashed out, catching him in the stomach and forcing him a step back. **He's fast!** Yoshirou realised as Ikkaku quickly stabbed forward. Yoshirou barely managed to dodge the blow before the stab was suddenly turned into a slashing move. He quickly managed to bring his sword up to block; his arms could feel the pressure under the sword. **He's strong too, if not quite as strong as me **he thought as he swung his own sword down, trapping Ikkaku's blade against the floor. He then quickly pulled the sword up along the edge of Ikkaku's katana. However, Ikkaku somehow managed to drop below the strike in an instant. Flattening himself against the floor, he swept his freed blade up at Yoshirou. Yoshirou was forced to pivot about to bring his wooden sword about to block. This left his feet open, which Ikkaku immediately kicked out from under him. Landing hard on the floor, he saw Ikkaku flip back up, quickly slashing down at him. However Yoshirou reached up, grabbing Ikkaku's hand on the blade and arresting its movement. Dropping his practice sword due to the limited movement space, he lunged forward with the other fist, simultaneously releasing his grip on the other hand. Ikkaku was forced back from the sheer power of his punch, gasping for air. In the opening, Yoshirou quickly flipped back up, grabbing his blade he tried to strike again, but Ikkaku got his sword up to block, jumping back to put some space between them.

Both men stood facing each other. "Well, you're not half bad!"-Ikkaku exclaimed "You got more power than me, that's for sure, but your not quite as flexible, too many stiff movements!" "That's not my fault; you're warmed up while I haven't had a chance to!"-Yoshirou defended himself. "Oh? SO if you warmed up you would give me a better fight? I like the idea! Go on and do you're stretching or whatever it is you Kido boys do."-Ikkaku exclaimed. Yoshirou took him up on his offer, stretching his limbs quickly in turn to get the circulation flowing right. The audience of men had grown quiet. They were in awe at the skill they had just seen, and apparently they were about to see better. Yoshirou finished stretching, taking a two handed grip on his sword. Ikkaku raised an eye at that "You sure you wanna try your normal style with a katana that short? Not a brilliant idea." "Let's see if that's right." Yoshirou announced as he closed the gap instantly. He cut down upon his foe, who tried to block. However, the extreme force in Yoshirou's blow sent Ikkaku to one knee. Yoshirou continued to apply force and Ikkaku was forced to move back, his katana barely slowing Yoshirou's own as it hit the floor. Unfortunately, he had put too much force in the strike, the wooden katana snapped in half within his hands. Ikkaku reverse rolled, coming back up a distance away.

"Haha, sorry but these swords are a bit flimsy compared to zanpakuto's, want to grab a new one?"-ikkaku asked, dancing on his feet once more. Yoshirou however, quickly swapped the now shorter sword between both hands, quickly slicing the air, stabbing forward in rapid succession. "This one feel's closer to the normal weight I'm used to, it's better." "Closer in weight? What kind of two handed sword were you using…doesn't matter; let's get back to the fight!" Ikkaku happily announced as he attacked. However, Yoshirou managed to parry the blade away, closing the gap between the two. Ikkaku immediately realised he was at a disadvantage, all he could do was dodge this close as Yoshirou slashed forward. Ikkaku tried to duck it, but Yoshirou stopped the swing, aiming it downwards instead. Ikkaku was forced to roll messily away to the side to avoid the blow. Getting back up, he tried to swing at Yoshirou, but he effortlessly deflected the now slower blade again and again, until he parried to the side, keeping his small blade out to stop Ikkaku from swinging in, he spun in, landing a reverse punch on Ikkaku's face that had him spinning away. Before Ikkaku could recover, Yoshirou had closed the gap, the small sword edge lying against Ikkakus throat. "My win."-Yoshirou declared.

There was silence in the room; nobody had dared believe that their 3rd seat could be defeated so easily. But it was soon broken by a quiet chuckle from Ikkaku, which quickly developed into a rather large laughing fit. "Oh you're good! I got myself beaten by a Kido wuss, I'm going to have to practice more! Anyway, as I said you prove your strength you get the meeting, c'mon follow me!"-Ikkaku said, throwing his wooden katana at the closest individual. "Ah, you had probably best throw yours away; nobody uses a sword that short in our squad. Those were some moves though; you seem more suited for that sneaky 2nd squad than the Kido Corps with those moves, their good with fast blades." "Ah, I was instructed by their captain so of course some of their moves would rub off on me."-Yoshirou answered, dropping his own practice sword. Ikkaku seemed surprised to hear that. "You got taught by a captain? Well no wonder you're that good then, a bloody captain's disciple! Hey, when we have the time you should come back for a rematch!"-Ikkaku happily exclaimed, joyous even in his defeat was he so happy about the good fight he just had. "Anyway, let's get going, Zaraki-taichou is in his own room."

However, although he said that, Ikkaku seemed to stop before he went near the room. "Ah, you might have to wait a second, I got something to take care of… how about you go down the corridor, there's a laundry room down there, go grab yourself a spare shihakshou since yours seems pretty much destroyed." **So their hiding the fact that they have her?** Yoshirou thought as he continued down the corridor. **Well, that means that she is safe then, they are keeping her presence a secret, so he has his own plans. **Walking into the laundry room, the rather strong smell of unwashed clothes hit him like a sledgehammer.** Fuck, that's nasty! A squad with no women gets filthy too fast **Yoshirou thought. Luckily he was able to locate a cupboard that had yet to be infected with the smell. Inside he found only one robe that was for his size. **Rather wide, this looks like it would fit Kenpachi himself…wait this probably is one of Kenpachi's, he's the only one I saw that beats my height. **Yoshirou thought as he tightly folded the robes about him, making sure to pull them tight. Now ready he walked back to the room where Ikkaku was waiting for him outside. Upon seeing Yoshirou, his eyes widened before he broke out in laughter again. "Oh Zaraki-taichou is going to be pissed that you stole his spare set! Watch yourself when you go in there!"

As he walked into the room, the first thing he noticed was the massive man sitting on a rather large chair, his zanpakuto leaning against his shoulder. As Yoshirou could see, Kenpachi's torso was entirely covered in bandages, a blanket loosely draped over his shoulders. However, even sitting down calmly watching him, Yoshirou could feel the intense air about. "Oh it's you huh? I wasted my damn time…"-Kenpachi growled, before shouting out generally "Get out here woman!" Suddenly, a cupboard burst open to Yoshirou's left, and a girl in a shihakshou seemed to roll out. However, that wasn't all as a second, diminutive girl seemed to jump above the ball that represented the first girl. "Jiggly is rubbish at hiding Ken-chan! She was gonna fall out even if you didn't call her!"-the tiny figure called out. "Yachiru, can't you think of a better name than that for the woman?"-Kenpachi growled in annoyance. "Jiggly is Jiggly, what else could you call her?"-the girl named Yachiru asked as she jumped from the other girl who was trying to get up. Kenpachi seemed to shrug his shoulders "Fine, just call her what you will then."

**Well, I suppose that was the second most prominent thing I noticed when we first** met Yoshirou thought as he watched Inoue stand up trying to straighten her uniform. "Yachiru-chan, you wouldn't stop shoving me, of course I was going to fall out!"-Inoue complained, before realising there was somebody else in the room. Turning to see the new person, she jumped back in recognition. "The shinigami Ishida killed!"**…what? **"Oh but your alive…seems Ishida was right after all, he didn't kill you."-Inoue said, a thoughtful expression on her face. **What kind of planet is this girl on?** "So the woman knows you to? Good, no need for explanations then."-Kenpachi interrupted. "So boy, since it seems you stole my clothes before you got here, other than stealing my stuff, why did you come here?"

"Ah, well since your harbouring a Ryoka, I can assume your fine with me speaking truthfully? I came here after I sensed her presence at your barracks. I just needed to confirm whether she was safe or not, especially since she was split up from Ishida, the other Ryoka who was with her. I already found him also." At this, Inoue suddenly seemed to leap with interest. Although she said nothing, it was obvious from the curiosity in her eyes that she wanted to hear how he was. "No other way to say it, he's been captured. He's lucky to be alive, if I had been a second late, he would be dead, I convinced his captor to let him live." "Oh no! It's all my fault, he had to stay behind to protect me…" Inoue said miserably. "Really? He was only captured about half an hour ago; I think whatever you're thinking about wasn't what lead to his capture. Anyway, he's safe now; he's probably being kept where everybody else is." "Everybody else? How many of us have been caught?"-Inoue asked, barely able to hold in her need to know more. "Not everyone, Kenpachi here will be glad to hear Kurosaki is still free, he and Yoruichi are still free. Everybody else has been captured, although with varying degrees of injuries, I think everyone has pulled through so far." "He had better not get his ass captured; I owe him a good re-match."-Kenpachi growled quietly. **Wow, I don't think anybody would want to collect on that debt.**

"Anyway, I heard from Ikkaku that despite you being a kido boy, you got decent fighting skills, at least enough to beat him fair and square. When you have the time, you get yourself over here, although I'll be after Ichigo, I wouldn't mind putting you through the paces myself."-Kenpachi offered, seeming to think he was offering him something good. **Not all of us are that battle crazy… **"Well anyway, now I've confirmed that, I'm going to head off now, there's a task I've been interrupted from far too many times, if I have the time, I might see about coming back, but I'm going to be busy so no promises." "You tell Ichigo I'm looking forward to the next match."-Kenpachi suddenly said. "Err, I didn't say that I even know where he is."-Yoshirou stated, surprised that the brutish captain had guessed he was in contact with him. However, this only drew a rather scary laugh from the captain. "Bye Yoshi-kun! Tell Icchy me and Jiggly say hi as well!"-Yachiru suddenly piped up from Kenpachi's shoulder, having politely remained silent throughout the entire conversation. **How on earth can he bear somebody on his shoulder with those wounds?** "Well, if I do by some chance see him, I'll pass the message on." Yoshirou said as he stepped out.

"Oh you're still alive? And you don't seem to be a nervous wreck either. Congratulations for surviving your first meeting with Zaraki-taichou!"-Ikkaku said as he watched Yoshirou leave the room. "Have you been standing guard by the door this entire time?"-Yoshirou asked. "You know why I am, there will be a fit if it's discovered that girl is here. Anyway, did he give you the offer?"-Ikkaku asked. Yoshirou was confused for a minute, before he remembered. "Ah yeah, he said I could come back and fight him any time, sorry if I might not take the offer."-Yoshirou apologised. Ikkaku laughed, before he said-"Well I won't remind him as long as you at least come back for our rematch, I hate being down on a score, so I will beat you next time!" "But weren't you holding back in our fight?"-Yoshirou asked. Ikkaku smiled fiercely before replying "Same goes to you, I could feel from your blows you were holding back a huge amount, let's say we're even and leave it at that. Next time we use our zanpakuto's rather than practice swords!"

Yoshirou raised his hands in surrender. "All right, all right, I'll give you a chance to win your honour back. Next time however, your not holding back on me, I know your as good as a Captain, well so am I, seeing as how I'm nominated to be a Captain myself. If you want to win, you're going to have to anti-up and match me." Ikkaku seemed to consider the proposal, before grinning. "Well, if we do our rematch somewhere secluded, I might use my full power then, but you better not hold back either if I agree." "Deal"-Yoshirou said, feeling slightly excited by the prospect. Ikkaku seemed to pick up on this "See, you do have a good attitude on you after all! Well, see you when we next fight!"-Ikkaku said, walking back into the room Yoshirou had just come from. Just before the door closed, Yoshirou heard "Hi pachinko head!" **So she really does nickname anything that comes to mind… Anyway, it really is time that I went to Ukitake.**

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**Well, chapter done. Next chapter we finally get to see Ukitake, since i've been putting it off forever. I'm also drawing together plans for my twin charecters, they may make an appearence soon, but they won't feature heavily until a bit later. Well see ya all in the next chapter!**


	18. Chapter 18 Finally reached Ukitake!

**Chapter 18 is finally up! I actually finished this one earlier today, but I felt dissatisfied at only 5000 words for some reason, so I threw in an extra 3000 before I got ready for bed. Originally, this was to be an Ukitake meeting only chapter, but I ran out of idea's. I then decided to show my newest O.C.'s. Before you ask, they are delibrately portrayed as very polite individuals, they are exact age same look twins, asides the mentioned difference that identifies them. They shall also NOT share a zanpakuto, instead they shall have opposing zanpakuto's. Anyhow, blab time over, on with the Chapter!**

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**Wow, this place really is peaceful** Yoshirou thought as he strode across the open grounds of the squad 13 barracks. **You can really feel Ukitake's impressions in the entire setup; it's calming and soothing at the same time, nothing outlandish, just open grounds with the building neatly in the centre.** As Yoshirou continued through the grounds, he noticed a couple of shinigami about the place. Unlike in the squad 11 barracks, they waved back over at the stranger in their midst. **Even its members seem to feel his influence, friendly instead of confrontational to a stranger. Man this squad must really be a great one to be in. **As Yoshirou continued however, he discovered that all was not quite as serene as he thought. He discovered a pair of shinigami in a rather dubious insulting match, both practically shouting in the other's face. He felt tempted to just pass by and ignore them, but the insignia on their arm's caught his attention. Two Vice-Captains? Yoshirou thought. That must be problematic if they seem to hate each other this much. However, they provided the fastest way to find Ukitake, so he stepped up between them. "SHUT UP GORRILA FEATURES I-…" The girl had started to shout back before noticing Yoshirou standing there. She seemed to look him up and down, while muttering to herself "Tall, medium length brown hair, golden hilt on the zanpakuto…" "What the hell are you muttering about now!" the big man said. "Will you shut up a minute! Are you…erm Yoshirou Ken-summat or other?"-the girl asked.

**Ken-summat or other? Wait, have I ever even met this girl before?** "Well yes I am, 3rd seat Yoshirou Kenshin, now-." "Ah, my sister was looking for you!"-the girl suddenly interrupted. "Sister?"-Yoshirou asked, rather bemused at the situation. "Yeah, I'm Kiyone Kotetsu, my sister's Isane, apparently you had something you were supposed to explain to her regarding assaulting some squad 11 people or something…"-the girl named Kiyone said, trailing off unconfidently of whether she had remembered it right or not. "Does it really matter monkey face! He's not here to talk to your sister, or he would be at the 4th squad, idiot! My name's Sentarō Kotsubaki, Vice-Captain to the great Ukitake-Taichou, now why are you visiting our squad?" "Well, I'm here to see-" "WHO ARE YOU CALLING AN IDIOT, IDIOT?"-Kiyone shouted back at the man, completely ignoring Yoshirou in her anger. "I'M CALLING YOU AN IDIOT! ARE YOU SO STUPID YOU CAN'T THINK OF ANOTHER INSULT TO CALL ME IDIOT?" **…I'm getting nowhere here** Yoshirou thought as his ears rang from their continual shouting. He instead decided to leave the two be and search for himself.

Luckily it didn't take long before he was lucky to find somebody else, but it wasn't who he had expected to see. "Yoshirou-kun! How's out little upcoming-Captain doing?"-Kyoraku called out to Yoshirou from across the corridor. "Hey Kyoraku, didn't expect to see you here!"-Yoshirou responded cheerfully. "Well, Ukitake has been a bit busy so I figured I'd go and make sure he has a break, I'm taking him out drinking with me, feel like tagging along?"-Kyoraku asked. "It's kinda early to be drinking don't you think?" "Nonsense! You can appreciate sake better when you are supposed to be working, so during the day is much better!" "I take it Nanao is letting you off the hook for a while?"-Yoshirou asked as he caught up with Kyoraku, who had started walking in a different direction. However, his face fell when he heard that. "Oh cruel yet beautiful Nanao-chan, I literally had to jump out the window to escape from the mountain of paperwork she left for me! She seems determined to stop me from having my fun, oh Nanao-chan, what can I do to get you to give me some slack?"-Kyoraku whined to himself. "I only asked her to help me impress the Ryoka the other day and she threw the wicker basket on my head! I still have a bump from it!" Yoshirou couldn't help but laugh at the self pity in the captain's voice.

"Oh, where were you yesterday Yoshirou-kun? I would have thought you would come to give your respects for Aizen."-Kyoraku suddenly asked, still in a cheerful manner. Yoshirou picked up on his intention immediately. **Man, I forgot how carefully he stages his attempts to weasel information out, he got me in a good mood before he tried to get the information, any mistakes I make would really be clear now. **"Sorry, I wasn't sure whether I should attend a Captains respects meeting, He didn't approve of me being a Captain, so joining the other captains while grieving would have probably insulted him."-Yoshirou explained "Aww you should have come, Aizen did think highly of you, he would have probably been happy to have known you were there. Still, you sound like you grieved for his passing so he will probably forgive you for it."-Kyoraku replied. "Now here's where Ukitake is, I'd better knock, he wouldn't be happy if we just burst in on him."-Kyoraku stated as he stopped outside a rather large set of double doors. Knocking, he called in "Ukitake, it's your best buddy here to see you! I also brought a friend along you've been wanting to see!"

There was silence for a few seconds, before a noise on the other side of the door announced anyone's presence. The door opened outwards to reveal the white haired captain, his serene smile in place on his face. However, upon seeing them, it widened further. "Kyoraku! And Yoshirou too! Thanks for coming by to see me!"-he said, his features showing a childish happiness about them from their simple presence. "Well, what can I do for you two then?" "Well, way I see it, you've been cooped up in your room too long Ukitake. Right now you, me and Yoshirou here are gonna go out to get a drink and a breath of fresh air!"-Kyoraku declared "Drinking? Kyoraku, it is still rather early in the day to go drinking I would have thought."-Ukitake said, drawing a sigh of disappointment from Kyoraku. "How many times must I explain it, a drink is always best when you're meant to be working! That free happiness of escaping from work is what makes it taste all the better!" Ukitake seemed to consider that statement for a second, before giving a slightly puzzled glance at Yoshirou. Yoshirou simply shrugged his shoulders, a sign that he just went along with it even if he didn't understand it. Ukitake sighed slightly, before smiling once again. "Well, as long as you're alright with me simply having tea instead, I don't see why not." "Tea? Your never going to have fun just drinking tea Ukitake…still, it's a good enough excuse to have fun, let's get going!"-Kyoraku happily said, quickly looping one arm about each mans neck and practically dragging them along.

(Bar)

"*phew* that hits the spot!" Kyoraku announced as he finished off his third bowl of sake. Yoshirou had barely gotten through his rather smaller bottle of drink, while Ukitake had simply rolled his eyes at his friends antics. "Well Yoshirou, as far as Kyoraku told me, you're being considered to become Captain, congratulations! You're just awaiting my decision right?"-Ukitake asked Yoshirou. "Yep, as it stands I have 6 votes of yes and 6 of no from the other Captains, so it's just awaiting your decision."-Yoshirou said. Ukitake seemed to think this over for a bit. "I'm sorry, Yoshirou, but is there anyway you could wait for my decision a little longer? I haven't seen much of what you can do, and in the current situation there's no way I can gauge if you're ready or not. Perhaps after this whole affair is sorted out, we can go out on a higher level mission, and I can gauge whether you're ready or not from that."-Ukitake asked apologetically. **Well, it would have been nice to have his approval straight off **Yoshirou thought **but delaying it for a while isn't bad either, while I'm not a captain I still have some freedom to help the Ryoka out. **"Okay, I understand. I simply have to impress you then? Okay, I'll try to impress!"-Yoshirou replied. Ukitake smiled once more at his eagerness. Beside them, Kyoraku suddenly seemed to be rather annoyed at something.

"Is something the matter, Kyoraku?" Ukitake asked, leaning closer to him. "Well, it seems those Onmitskido boys are back, why on earth did Yama-jii tag them on us?" **We are being followed?** Yoshirou thought. "The Onmitskido are watching us?" "Yea, ever since Kenpachi got took down, Yama-jii decided it would be better if a fast response team was assigned to keep an eye on all combatants to relay aid should the need arise. But it's a cover up lie, their tracking us instead."-Kyoraku answered, finishing his drink. "So we are all being followed then?"-Yoshirou asked, worry evident in his voice. "Well your not, for some reason there doesn't seem to be an escort on you. Veeery suspicious."-Kyoraku mused, looking at Yoshirou. **Uh oh, did I give something away?** Suddenly Kyoraku broke out in a wide grin. "It's because you're Soi Fons play boy aren't you? God, I never thought such a stiff woman would ever choose a person, and out of all people it was you! She wouldn't keep tabs on her favourite like that."-Kyoraku suddenly laughed out. "Err what do you mean?"-Yoshirou asked, rather confused. "Yes, do explain I'm rather interested in your explanation"-Ukitake said, interest indeed sparkling in his eyes.

"Hahaha, I noticed it at the last Captains meeting! I do believe however they have been at it quite a bit longer from Yoshirou-kun's botched attempt to cover himself up, training indeed. Training of another type perhaps?"-Kyoraku laughed out, causing Yoshirou to nearly choke on his drink. "No, don't try hiding it Yoshirou, there's even more evidence than that! She said at the end to meet up at their usual place, and yesterday she was acting very strange, all full of enthusiasm like back when Yoruichi used to still be Captain. I think judging from her recent change in behaviour, they may have even moved the relationship up a notch!"-Kyoraku finished with a large flourish of his bowl, nearly catching a passing customer with it. "Really? Is that true Yoshirou?"-Ukitake asked eagerly, both curiosity and amusement dancing across his face. "No it isn't! As I said to you, we were simply training, two days ago she finally succeeded in learning how to control her Kido, so that's probably why she seems so enthusiastic."-Yoshirou desperately explained, although his reddened face from Kyoraku's rather strong insinuations didn't help him explain at all. Ukitake looked suspiciously at him while Kyoraku burst out in raucous laughter.

"Right right Yoshirou-kun, whatever you say, but watch it mind, if I see one more hint that I'm right, I am going to announce it to my entire squad unless you admit I'm right now!"-Kyoraku threatened jokingly. However, Yoshirou held steadfast, denying his accusations. Eventually, Kyoraku seemed to calm down a bit, getting back to his drinking instead. However, he then suddenly clapped to get their attention. "I just remembered Yoshirou-kun didn't get to pay his respects to Aizen, so I propose we all have a toast right now! Ukitake, you can just use your tea if you want." Ukitake and Yoshirou both nodded in agreement, raising their own drinks. "To Aizen, may he rest in peace." They all proceeded to down their drinks, although Yoshirou nearly choked on his drink, he wasn't used to drinking so fast. "Yoshirou-kun, perhaps you should have stuck to tea like Ukitake if you suck that badly at drinking!"-Kyoraku jibed at him.

"Anyway, how are things going with that seal Ukitake?" Ukitake suddenly looked sharply at Kyoraku, obviously whatever he had just announced wasn't meant to be said. However, after noticing that Yoshirou had heard it clearly, he sighed before leaning in closer to them both and continuing. "It's not going well, I can't break the first level seal, its too recent and strong, the others should be doable, if not easily so, they are pretty old and have lost some of their strength, but unless we break the first seal, it's impossible. We may need to find an alternative instead." "No good, we don't have time to find something else."-Kyoraku replied, all traces of his earlier joviality now giving way to a serious tone. "Your going to have to find a way to break it, we are running out of options." **What are they talking about? Seal? Running out of time? No options?…Impossible, they couldn't be discussing something like that. **Yoshirou realised as he connected the dots in his head, the time referred to how long until the execution, the seal and method was a way to perhaps intervene in the execution. **They plan to do something about it! But why did Kyoraku bring it up in front of me? Surely he must have figured by now that I was under orders to observe them, that's why the Onmitskido aren't tagging me.**

"Well, I don't get what you're talking about, but I'm pretty good with seals, perhaps I could take a look at this thing you're talking about?"-Yoshirou offered. Kyoraku seemed to study his face for a minute, before cracking out in his usual grin. "That's a brilliant idea Yoshirou, why don't you have a look at it? You like the idea Ukitake?" Ukitake seemed to be internally conflicted about his next decision. But he relented, saying "Well we might as well, but he can't know of its purpose, Genryuusai-sensei would not be happy if somebody else knew about our task." **That's an obvious lie** Yoshirou thought, but played along with it none-the-less. "Okay, I'll not let Yamamoto know I had a hand in unsealing it, you can just keep the credit yourself."

(Back at Squad 13 Barracks)

"Well, here it is" Ukitake said, standing before the large red box before the three men. As Yoshirou looked at it, he could see multiple moving patterns covering the box, interlinking with the chains that wound over and over again about it. "So each chain represents a seal level then?" Yoshirou asked. "For some of them, but there are far more seals than just that. The problem is that one in the middle." Ukitake said, pointing at a large gold sigil. It seemed to connect to four of the multitude of chains about the box, but he could immediately see the difference, and feel it. The seal was practically pouring out power, an amazingly large amount of it. "Man that must have taken a huge amount of time and many people to create that one."-Yoshirou said whistling as he ran his hand over it, recognising the sigil as belonging to the Shihoin house, feeling the power ebb and flow within the chains. **How odd, I can feel its flow, it's force, that's very strange, normally they radiate power constantly yet there's a definite flow here, for a seal of this power, that's a very strange weakness, you can follow the flow to it's source and disconnect it there, effectively a back up unlock, unless… **

"So what's the hitch on this then?"-Yoshirou asked, expecting some kind of trap to be in place. However, he was surprised to hear Ukitake reply "It's got so much power to it that I can't break it. I don't think anyone could so easily. I was going to ask Kyoraku to give me a hand, but you wanted to try it first"** Break it? I can feel its pattern; surely it would be far simpler to just unlock it that way? Wait… **Yoshirou now ran his hands among all of the chains, sure enough in every single chain there was a prominent flow present. **All of these are relatively simple to unlock! Why was he having so much difficulty with it?** "Well, do you want me to open it now then?"-Yoshirou asked. Ukitake seemed to look down at him strangely. "Well, if you can do the first seal, the rest I could handle so just try whatever you want on the sigil."

Yoshirou turned to the sigil, closing his eyes attuning his senses to the power within it. He felt a wall of resistance about the sigil slam into his senses though. **Whoa, that's why they couldn't!** Yoshirou realised as his attempt was abruptly brought to a halt. However, after a few seconds, the rebuff seemed to stop. **What the…** Yoshirou thought as he tried attuning himself again. This time he met no resistance, the mechanism of the seal seemed to have accepted his reiatsu signature and stopped resisting. As he probed with his senses, he found the main concentration, the source of the seal. It was located on the bottom protruding stub of the sigil, just before it reached the edge. Carefully putting his own reiatsu into the source, he felt the seal unlock itself. He heard an exclamation of shock as his eyes opened. The sigil was glowing slightly with his own reiatsu, before dispersing. The sigil fell to the floor, the chains connected to it falling from the container.

Yoshirou stood back up, looking to Kyoraku and Ukitake. Kyoraku had whistled in surprise at the feat, while Ukitake was standing there, jaw agape at the stunt he had just witnessed. "Well, that's the main one unlocked, didn't take much I don't see how come you couldn't manage it"-Yoshirou said. Kyoraku laughed at that "Well, seems it was the right idea to let you have a crack at it! Now Ukitake, do you think you can handle the others." Ukitake seemed to snap back to reality as he heard his own name called. Kneeling before the container, he carefully placed his hands upon the chains. Yoshirou was surprised as he watched smoke emit slowly from the container, that hadn't happened when he touched it. "…yes, I think the others should be open able by me now. Yoshirou, just how exactly did you break that sigil?" "I'm actually not sure, when I first touched it, I could feel its energy flow pretty clearly, so I simply tuned my own reiatsu into the flow. I met some resistance, very strong, but it seemed to deactivate after a few seconds. I simply just unlocked it after that, rather than break the seal." Ukitake didn't make any reply at that, simply staring at the sigil upon the floor.

"Well, it seems we owe you now Yoshirou-kun! Is there anything we can do to repay you? Mind you, it has to be something I can do now, Nanao-chan is probably hunting me down as we speak."-Kyoraku told him. Remembering his thoughts from earlier, Yoshirou asked-"Do you guys have any hints on shunpo training?" Kyoraku seemed to smile at this. "That is exactly the kind of thing we could help you with! However, I don't have time right now to actually teach you, you're just going to have to listen and understand best you can." Kyoraku suddenly expelled all the air from his chest, before remaining still. A minute passed, and Yoshirou started becoming confused "And what are we doing exactly?" Ukitake seemed to answer for him. "Kyoraku just expelled all the air from his lungs, and didn't breath back in." **Huh?** Another minute passed before Kyoraku started breathing again. However his breath was completely level, as though he had not just tried to suffocate himself.

"Now, heres the science'y bit! What do shinigami need to survive?" Yoshirou thought for a second, before replying "Reishi energy is absorbed by the body, for a stronger shinigami, they consume food to break down into reishi as an additional amount of energy, since subconscious absorption doesn't work effectively enough." "Good, full marks! Now, why do shinigami need to breath?" That one puzzled Yoshirou. "For oxygen?" "Nope, it's because it's by far the easiest way to absorb reishi from the air, that and it's the only way we can speak. Finally, it's an instinct passed on from the time we were human. Now, what if somebody was able to draw reishi in to their own body? Would they actually need to breathe?" Yoshirou was confused by the path this was taking. "No, I guess not…" "Correct! Now, what is the fundamental need for shunpo?" "To gather reishi… oh wow that's a crafty idea."-Yoshirou said, finally catching what Kyoraku was getting at.

"Yep, if you can learn to draw in reishi to a level that you don't need to breathe, drawing in reishi for shunpo will be spectacularly easy! Let's just say that I can clear over 500 metres in a single step, as can Ukitake." "500 metres, that's impossible!"-Yoshirou said. Kyoraku simply grinned, before walking out of the room. Following him outside, Yoshirou watched as he disappeared. Half a second later he reappeared, now wearing shades. "Recognise these?" he asked. Yoshirou looked at the shades for a few seconds, before realisation hit him. "Those belong to Yasochika Iemura! But he's from the 4th squad, your saying you got the whole way to there and back just now?"-Yoshirou said in shock.

Kyoraku just grinned widely, however his grin suddenly faltered. Yoshirou could see why, there was a slender female hand on his shoulder. "Shunsui, you wouldn't believe what I just saw. A man just rudely crashed into the 4th squad barracks and assaulted one of the men there, apparently stealing some glasses from him. Now you wouldn't happen to know anything about this would you?"-Unohana said as she stepped out from behind Kyoraku. Kyoraku turned his head quickly, removing the sunglasses before turning back to Unohana, a big smile on his face. "Don't worry Unohana-san, I apprehended the criminal and took the glasses back off him! Yes, Yoshirou-kun will not be causing that kind of trouble again!" He quickly pushed the glasses into her hand, winked at Yoshirou and before Yoshirou could even defend himself, Kyoraku disappeared. Unohana sighed, before saying something that suspiciously sounded like "boys will be boys I suppose" and disappearing herself.

**Well, that was odd for sure** Yoshirou thought. **Doesn't matter, I have a new way to increase my shunpo skill! …or so I should, but how in hell would I be able to do that? Taiyou, you have any ideas?**

_None, but from what I heard, it sounds close the Quincy arts, perhaps you can start there?_

**Good idea! If I can, maybe I can find some time to meet with Ishida!**

_Why on earth would he help you?_

**Urm…** However, before he could finish considering this, a hell butterfly flew over in his direction. How in hell do these guys always locate you? Yoshirou mused as he put a hand out for the butterfly to land on. "Your presence has been requested by Yamamoto-Sou-Taichou, you are to report immediately to the 1st Squad." What the, why would I be needed now? Yoshirou thought as the butterfly floated away. Deciding that the message seemed to be important, he immediately left, heading towards the 1st squad with his shunpo.

(P.O.V change)

"Well, there the kid goes"-Kyoraku said as he watched Yoshirou leave by shunpo. "He really does seem to like that skill of his, does he know it's only real use is meant to be in battle rather than in everyday use? It's a bit strange that he can use it so easily and casually, most new users can't do more than ten in a row. Hey don't you agree Ukitake?"-Kyoraku asked as he turned over to Ukitake. Ukitake was silently holding the sigil from the seal in his hands. "…how did he do it, Kyoraku? It seemed almost as if he was simply unravelling his own seal, but that's impossible, this seal was made by the strongest kido users of the Shihoin house. It should be almost impossible to break, yet rather than break it, he unravelled it…"-Ukitake said quietly, spinning the small sigil in his hands over and over again. "Is there any chance he may actually be a Shihoin?" "Naw, he looks nothing like any of the Shihoin clan, didn't you forget their main characteristic is the golden eyes? Granted, when he uses his powers his eyes go gold, but that's his reiatsu, not natural colour" Kyoraku explained. "But still, it is nothing short of miraculous that he was able to do it, still why did you hide the truth from him? I thought I suggested to you earlier he could prove a useful ally, perhaps the one that we need to make this work." Ukitake looked out the window at the sky. "…he is still too young to have to shoulder a burden like this, let him believe that he stands on the right side, it's up to us to betray what is expected of us, not him. We will take this burden alone, and we shall stop this, I will not let Kuchiki Rukia die."

(Squad 1 Barracks) (1 hour later) (P.O.V change)

**Here we go again **Yoshirou thought as he prepared to enter Yamamoto's office. He had been met upon reaching the squad by Chojiro, who apparently wasn't going to give him any chance of using the getting lost excuse. He was then quickly guided to the office where he stood now. **This time, things might go badly, now I know for sure that two captains are intending to change sides, I have to be careful with what I say.** Yoshirou summarised as he approached the desk Yamamoto was sitting at. "Yoshirou Kenshin, I have new orders for you." **New orders?** "But first, I have some words to say. Two captains have already reported to me of your work in aiding their operations. Tosen particularly has commended you upon successfully aiding in the capture of a Ryoka, I wish to express my own gratitude on doing your mission so well, that particular Ryoka had already defeated a Captain, your assistance in helping Tosen capture him will be a significant blow to our enemies." **Aid him? All I did was restrain him from killing his enemy.** Yoshirou thought. **Still, this plays into my hands, he will be less suspicious if I aided in capturing a Ryoka.**

"Now, concerning your new orders. You are to from this point discontinue your current mission. Priority instead moves towards preparing your squad for the execution date. We will need men from your squad to successfully make use of the Soukyoku, it is up to you to choose who will do this, however yours and your Vice-Captains presence are requested at the execution, so neither of you will contribute to this." "Wait, Yamamoto-san, why am I preparing for the execution already, shouldn't I wait until closer to the date?"-Yoshirou asked, confused. "The execution date has been moved, the execution of Kuchiki Rukia shall be done in two days from now." Yoshirou barely managed to keep a complacent face, as inside his mind reeled in shock. Bowing to hide his face, Yoshirou answered "I shall begin preparations immediately then, if you will excuse me."

As he left the room, Yoshirou raged inside his own mind. **Two days! This is bad! Kurosaki's training for his Bankai is meant to take three days, he isn't going to make it! What can we do? Doing the maths, we have three Captains; Kyoraku, Ukitake and Kenpachi on our side. Also we have Yoruichi, Ichigo and myself, which roughly gives us six Captain-class fighters. We also have one captain unable to join the fight, and Unohana is a non combatant. However, facing us we have Gin, Tosen, Hitsugaya, Komamura, Byakuya, Soi Fon and finally the sou-taichou himself. No matter how you see it, we are both outnumbered and out powered, how are we supposed to do this!**

_Calm down! We don't know for sure if Kurosaki will be unable to gain his Bankai, and even so, we still have some advantages. There are still two day's left, and I can feel the unrest in Soul Society, more may yet happen, we still have the foes that are behind Aizen's death, the other Captains are probably just as suspicious about this, we may have more help on the day than we do now. For now, we simply need to keep our heads down and prepare for the day._

**Right, well first things first is to follow my orders, I need to return to the squad and get my men ready.**

(Kido Corps squad) (2 hours later)

"Hello Taichou! Are you back from your adventures then?"-Kira asked as she looked up at Yoshirou. "But why on earth are you wearing that huge shihakshou? What happened to yours?" "I felt like seeing how Kenpachi would react if I stole his, surprisingly I'm still alive."-Yoshirou replied as he walked into his barracks. Kira laughed at this comment as she followed him. Everywhere that Yoshirou looked, his men seemed to be full of activity, all unaware of what was about to befall Soul Society. "Kira, do you know where the twins are? I need to talk to them." However, no sooner he said this than he felt a tap from behind him. Turning around, he saw his targets, the twin shinigami Haneko and Tansho Shumei, his respective 4th and 5th seat. Both men were rather strange oddities among shinigami, not only were they twins, but both men had the condition known as Heterochromia, it was the easiest way to tell them apart. Haneko had a blue right eye, brown left, while Tansho had the reverse set. As they liked to claim, it was their sign that they would become Kido users, and so far nobody had argued with that claim. They both excelled in Kido, but most especially in teamwork combat, as a fighting pair they were among the most effective teams that Yoshirou had ever seen, even a team of ten other shinigami could barely compare to what those two could accomplish.

"You requested us, Yoshirou?" –Haneko said, bowing respectfully to him. **Ah, that's the bit I don't like about them, their older than me but still act subservient, just cause I'm stronger, doesn't mean they should bow to me. Hell, it was only a couple of decades ago they were showing me the ropes of teamwork Kido. They are the best men that I have; they should have some more respect for themselves rather than me. **"Yes, I need you two to prepare a team of ten men to aid in the executions, I'm afraid the time has been stepped forward to two days time, so we need to hurry." Both men looked at each other in surprise before turning back to him. Tansho then spoke up saying "What is your plan then?" "Sorry?"-Yoshirou asked. "We must both apologise, we pressed Kira too hard regarding your location and she snapped, accidentally blurting out the truth of your intentions to us. However, as we both have agreed, we shall stand by you and your decision; we will await your orders, and move when you do."-Tansho said, bowing again in way's of apology. Looking accusingly at Kira, who tried to duck out of his sight line, Yoshirou sighed.

"Right, how many men know?" "Only us for now, but we shall notify whichever members we choose for this mission to standby, we shall be careful to pick only trusted members who will be able to help."-Haneko answered. "Am I to assume that Kira is exempt from the selection process as our new Vice-Captain?" Yoshirou almost passed out from hearing this. "KIRA! Just how much did you tell these guys?" Kira however remained mute, her head hung in shame. Shaking his head in exasperation, Yoshirou turned back to the two men. "So you're alright with Kira being your superior then?" "Perfectly, as a team, we cannot be located in a seat where one may be separated from the other by the duties of their seats; as such we wholeheartedly have accepted your decision to promote her above us."-Tansho explained, his voice showed that what he said was the truth; he held no regret for not being promoted above the weaker Kira. "Asides, Kira is the only person of our squad you are truly familiar with, it is up to her to be your support, not us."-Haneko agreed. "We would only ask that one of us receive the 3rd seat to make up for it, since it is the responsibility of the stronger to protect the weaker, it is why we respect your command so much, and we shall work to continue towards that goal, Taichou."-Tansho finished. **That habit of theirs to finish each others sentences is slightly confusing, but I never once thought that I would have to rely on these two to aid me, I'm glad they chose me above the Gotei 13.**

"Well, for now you are simply to assemble your men. Closer to the time, I will decide just whether you shall be part of this operation or not. Don't forget, if everything goes south, you ditch me, the squad is more important." Both men bowed once again, before simultaneously saying "We shall not allow this operation to go wrong, you have our words, Taichou!" Turning away, they proceeded down the corridor. Judging from their beckoning motion to a few shinigami along the way, they were already going about his orders. Yoshirou breathed out slowly, as he turned to look at Kira. "…sorry…"-Kira apologised, fidgeting with the hem of her robes. "It was just they kept pressing me so much, they knew that I knew more than I was letting on, they know that we are closer than the other members are. They were just concerned, but their insistent asking had me lose it, so I kind of shouted at them about it. I must have let something slipped because they started to ask me to finish what I was saying. By that point, I had said too much to brush it away, so I told them everything, sorry Taichou…" Yoshirou looked at her nervous form, before letting out a quiet chuckle. "Well, I did put a bit too much responsibility on you to cover for me, but it's good that it was only them who heard, they are the men I would prefer on my side more than anything. They aren't as good as me, but together they can rival a Captain by themselves, trust me with all the bad news I have had today, knowing there's more allies on my side is reassuring, especially those two."

"Well, its getting late so there's no point in going back out today, I'll go see them tomorrow."-Yoshirou said. "See who?"-Kira enquired "Ah yes, that fight the other day was Kenpachi against a ryoka, Kurosaki Ichigo, their de-facto leader. He won, but barely, with a lot of hard work, and a help from an unexpected person, I managed to get him patched up and safely away. However, he then went on a near suicide assault against Byakuya, if it hadn't been for some intervention, he would be dead. Anyway, he's recovering and training in a hidden location, training to gain his Bankai." "Bankai? But Taichou, even you don't have Bankai yet, how on earth could a Ryoka Shinigami manage it?"-Kira asked. Yoshirou faltered at that, before admitting "I don't know, I just have to hope."** I have to hope that we can succeed in this war that's coming**. _(Little did he know he had one more unsuspecting ally to depend upon.)_

(Another location in Seireitei)

Reiatsu shined about the small captain, an icy wall that failed to portray the rage in his heart. "I thought I told you…if you made Hinamori spill blood, I'd kill you!"-Hitsugaya threatened the fox faced captain that stood away from him. He then drew his zanpakuto, rage shining in his eyes, going into a kneeling pose as his reiatsu started to flow around him, making his Haori flap as if caught in the wind. "That ain't good." The fox faced Captain replied, settling his hand upon his zanpakuto, his own reiatsu flowing about him. "If you pull yo' sword on me in a place like this, I'll just ha' to stop ya, won't I?" The last spectator, Kira Izuru hesitated at the forces before him "I-Ichimaru-Taichou…" He started to say. "Stay back Izuru, ya don' wanna die yet, do ya?"-Gin ordered him. "Don't be stupid. Just staying back isn't good enough. Freaking disappear Kira!"-Hitsugaya threatened, holding his zanpakuto ready at the side. "Even after you can't see us, keep on going. If you're within twelve kilometres in any direction, I'm not certain I won't kill you unintentionally!" With that, Hitsugaya leapt up at his foe, crashing downwards with the blade.

(Kido Corps squad)

Yoshirou could feel the intense reiatsu in the air. **What the hell, two captains fighting?** He thought. Homing in on the reiatsu's, he recognised Hitsugaya and Gin. However, he could also feel the intentions in the reiatsu. Both reiatsu's had murderous intent within them, but Hitsugaya's was driven by rage and need for revenge of something, Gin's reiatsu felt cold and calculating. "There's a fight of some kind, two captains!" he told Kira. "I'm not sure, but judging from these reiatsu, it's going to be a deathmatch!" **…wait, death match? Aizen has been killed already…SHIT! IT'S THAT BASTARD GIN!**

_Calm down now! You don't know that for sure!_

**What else could it be!**

_I don't know, but running in gun's blazing will get you killed if you try to intervene, calm yourself!_

Yoshirou took in deep breaths just like his zanpakuto had instructed. Kira looked on concerned; she could see the anger and anguish that just twisted his face into a rather fearful grimace. **All right, I'm going to go anyway, but I'll only stop the fight, I won't make any rash moves. **"Sorry Kira, no time to explain, I have to go." Charging back along the corridor, he was surprised to find two men join him. "Yoshirou, what's happening?"-Tansho asked, Haneko right on his tail. "I'm not sure; it's a captain fight of some kind. There's no point in you guys coming, you can't keep up with me." Haneko seemed to concentrate, before replying "I think we can just about get there with shunpo, let us escort you, against a Captain you can take no chances." Tansho nodded to this. Yoshirou was surprised at their sudden eagerness to come with him, in the past they rarely worked along with him. **Then again, we have never had to go to a fight with foes as strong as this either. **"All right, you guys can back me up, if things turn bad try and aid whichever captain I choose to support, he will probably have less chance of surviving alone than me." "Understood, Taichou." Both men confirmed, as all three departed with shunpo, leaving a concerned Kira in their wake.

As they arrived at their destination, Yoshirou noticed the other two were rather out of breath. He also saw that the sky was pitch black with clouds. **That's odd, the sky was clear earlier**. Running forward, he took scope of the situation immediately. Hitsugaya must have released his zanpakuto, as he watched an enormous ice dragon seemed to bare down on the field. Gin barely dodged it, but his unlucky Vice Captain got caught up in the storm, thrown aside like a rag. "Okay, you two get the others out of the way; they're going to get killed unless they're moved. I'll deal with the fight." The two men nodded as they ran towards the battle, Tansho running to the unconscious girl, Haneko running to aid the trapped man**. Now, my job is to stop the two murderous Captains, great fun.** Yoshirou thought. However, it seemed Hitsugaya had other intentions; he had trapped the arm of his target, encasing it with ice. "It's over, Ichimaru!" However, Yoshirou could see that Gin had a trick up his sleeve, releasing his zanpakuto from under his haori. Hitsugaya barely managed to dodge under the sweeping blade. Gin grinned, seeming about to say something before he noticed the movement on the ground, his grin faltering slightly.

Just before his shikai would have pierced Hinamori's body, Tansho managed to grab her, jumping out of the way of the impending shikai. **Good move Tansho, now it's my turn** Yoshirou thought as he used shunpo to appear beside the two Captains. Unleashing his own reiatsu in a torrent, Yoshirou spoke-"That's enough, you two shall stop this right now, Hitsugaya, Gin. You are breaking the laws of Soul Society by fighting in this area with intent to kill. If you continue in this, then I shall intervene." As he spoke, Hitsugaya quickly disappeared from under Ichimaru's shikai, reappearing standing beside Yoshirou. "Yoshirou, I would ask that you stand down. I have realised that this man is the murderer of Aizen, as no doubt you have, I have already sworn to kill him, now retreat."-the young captain ordered him. However, Yoshirou put a hand on his zanpakuto.

"And I said you will both stand down now, or I will stop this. Hitsugaya, you must control yourself, I also agree with you. Gin is probably the murderer of Aizen, much as I would delight in seeing him dead, he is still a Captain of Soul Society, and you are as well. There is no evidence to say that he is the murderer, you must restrain yourself or you will be named the killer instead." Turning to Gin, he said "Your reason to fight is over, if you persist in this attempt, then both I and my men will stand against you." Gin seemed to consider his odds; however, the appearance of another person seemed to sway his mind. Looking over, Yoshirou noticed a ginger haired woman standing there. Even in the dangerous situation they were in, the only thing he noticed was the far too big breasts she had. However, she had a rather concerned look on her face, mixed with shock of seeing the situation before her.

Gin seemed to stare at her for a few seconds, before shrugging and sheathing his zanpakuto. "Well, can' argue 'gainst so many scary folks."-he said as he started to walk away. "Wait, Ichimaru!"-Hitsugaya shouted, although Yoshirou held an arm up before the Captain to stop him from running forward. Gin turned and said "Instead o' followin' me, take care o' miss 5th squad Vice Captain. Tha' an I may b' forced ta do something unpredi'table if ya do."-Gin warned, pointing the last bit at Yoshirou. Waving, he disappeared with his shunpo. "That bastard!"-Hitsugaya swore. "If you didn't come I would have killed him!" "Yeah, theres no guarantee of that, you might have killed, making you a murderer, or been killed allowing Gin to escape. Either way, that Vice Captain would be dead."-Yoshirou retorted as his men jumped up to the roof, Tansho carrying the injured girl carefully. "Hey, what happened to the other guy?" "I'm sorry Yoshirou, but while I was guarding against anything that Captain might do, he escaped from behind me."-Haneko apologised. "Doesn't matter, we avoided any death's, that was the important part." Turning to Hitsugaya, Yoshirou inclined his head in apology. "I may have overstepped my boundaries by interfering here, but I believed it necessary." Hitsugaya seemed to sigh irritably as he sheathed his sword. "No, you did the right move, I would have had her death on my hands if you didn't arrive, and for that I thank you."

"Taichou" the woman called out. Hitsugaya turned to her. "Matsumoto, what are you doing here?" "I'm sorry, I tried to return to the squad like you ordered, but sensing Hyourinmaru's reiatsu, I had to come back."-the woman named Matsumoto explained. "Is that your Vice Captain then?"-Yoshirou asked. Hitsugaya nodded, before saying "Enough with the pleasantries, I want to get Hinamori moved back to my squad." Yoshirou jumped at hearing that name, Kira had explained who she was to him. "You mean Aizen's Vice Captain?" "Yes, I came here to apprehend Gin before she got herself killed, but Gin somehow arranged things to turn her against me, I think he hoped I would kill her for him" **God, I never imagined that was the situation **Yoshirou thought. "However, I think it was unwise that you believe my story with no proof Yoshirou, that kind of thinking may get you killed in the day's to come."-Hitsugaya said, turning away. "Your reiatsu didn't lie to me, even from my own squad I could feel your fury, Gin just emitted a cold killing intent, I would believe you over him any day."-Yoshirou retorted. Hitsugaya just nodded, saying "Let's get moving."

(Squad 10 Barracks)

"There, that should do it."-Yoshirou exclaimed as he finished hooking Hinamori up to an IV stand. "You know medical procedures, that is a rather strange requirement for the Kido Corps."-Hitsugaya observed. "Old stuff I picked up."-Yoshirou said dismissively as he stepped away from the bed, wiping a hand across his forehead. "Now, is there any way you can explain all of this to me, I don't like playing with foes like Captains without understanding things." Hitsugaya seemed to glance at the twins who stood beside Yoshirou. Catching his glance, Yoshirou said-"I trust these two with my life, so you can trust them with any information you give me." Slowly nodding, Hitsugaya said "Well, explaining this to you may give me an insight that I missed, so I will do so."

"I started to become suspicious during the Captain meeting when we first met. Although you were distracted by Kyoraku, I heard Aizen and Gin discuss the matter of how odd the alarm going off just then was. Aizen treated him with suspicion, but after Aizen passed him, Gin said: _You are never going to change, it's the last alarm you will ever hear, might as well take your time and listen._ That had me suspicious immediately, I tried to warn Hinamori against Gin, but it seemed Aizen ended up overstepping the boundary, and discovering something. He was then silenced for it. After Aizen was discovered dead, Gin was already nearby. He then intended to kill Hinamori when she lashed out, if it hadn't been for Izuru, she would be dead. I warned him, swearing that I would kill him if he made Hinamori spill a drop of blood. However, after Aizen's death, a letter was found among his possessions to be given to Hinamori. Taking pity, I confiscated he evidence and let it reach Hinamori instead. That was my mistake, the letter was a trap, it accused me of being Aizen's murderer, saying that I plotted to take the Soukyoku during the execution. Hinamori believed the letter, breaking out of prison. Fearing for her life, I thought the letter implicated Gin, so I went to capture him before she would be killed by him. However, I was attacked by the distraught Hinamori. Even though I tried to convince her otherwise, I was forced to knock her out. I then decided to keep my word, my oath to kill him. However, that hot headed decision nearly cost me, had you not intervened Hinamori would have been killed, and probably me not much sooner. You saved not only her life, but mine by extension."

Yoshirou understood everything then, and decided the words were true. "So, what do you intend now?" "Gin probably didn't expect me to survive tonight, so I think the information in the letter was not intended for my ears. I think Gin plans to steal the Soukyoku's power for himself, I don't know how though. I intend to stop the execution before he can put his plan in motion." Hitsugaya explained. He then turned and looked directly at Yoshirou, his eyes piercing Yoshirou's owns. He then slowly said-"Your eyes have changed, they show that they hold secrets now, large ones at that." Yoshirou froze, unsure of what to say. "But, I still stand by my decision, I think I can trust you, I shan't ask your intentions or plans. I only trust that you are on my side as well. Now, it is time you leave, and remember, watch your back. Gin now knows you know the secret as well, he may try to silence you." Releasing his pent up breath, Yoshirou turned to leave, the twins following him. However, just before he left, Hitsugaya called one last message. "Thank you, truly. You saved an important person for me, I shan't forget this debt, I only hope I can pay it back one day."

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**Chapter over! I was suddenly inspired to do a Hitsugaya bit, since he is a fan favourite as well, and the timelines fitted well. Now i'm sorry that for whatever reason I portrayed Matsumoto as ariving later in my story with no reason, but it fitted better for my purposes, sorry again. Anhow, next chapter might be up tomorrow night, maybe the next day, I dunno I have a lot of exam work to be doing, seeya when it's put up!**


	19. Chapter 19 One day left

**Aww man, since the first day that I started typing this story, yesterday was the first day that my story had nobody attempting to read it, :( Oh well, normally I have a regular update time, but writers block camped on me again and this chapter took two days rather than one. Once again, since it's writers cramp time i'm not sure if this ones come out alright or not. I seem to have bad inspiration times, I nearly have the next 5 chapters perfectly planned out, yet this once chapter was the one I couldn't focus on right. By they way, I seem to be getting closer to making the romance charecter Soi Fon, rather than my own O.C. i'm still undecided, if anybody thinks differently, then say so! Anyhow, your here to read the chapter, so get reading!**

**1 More Note: Seems I finally break the 100,000 words barrier today, this story is getting damn big 0.0**

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**Man, it's already morning?** Yoshirou thought as he watched the sun start to rise, still walking back to his barracks after the whole affair with Gin and Hitsugaya. **I suppose it's too late to try getting any sleep now.** "Yoshirou, I'm afraid I still don't quite understand how somebody plans to make use of the Soukyoku."-Tansho said from behind him. "I agree, surely the Soukyoku is but a weapon that is difficult to control even by many people. It has its own massive power, but there is no practical way to take the energy or power within the artefact for one self."-Haneko also said. Yoshirou sighed to himself, he had also been going over his thoughts of how it would be possible to take the power from soukyoku, but he thought it impossible as well. **Not only that, the rumours of its power is fake as well, people believe it is incredibly strong, but its total energy only just overshadows the power of a Captain, the joint reiatsu of two Captains could probably stop it in its tracks. It has enough power to destroy a captain, that is true, but only once on each time it is summoned, and at that it takes an immense amount of control to utilise it. Practically, it's a useless weapon to obtain, and its power is still lower than the Sou-Taichou himself so it isn't that it can't be defeated or be wielded to destroy him. **"I'm not really sure, I think that Hitsugaya's idea may still be wrong, Gin might not be after the Soukyoku. So far, my only idea is that he perhaps plans to pull something off while all of Soul Society is distracted by the executions. However, what that is still bemuses me."-Yoshirou admitted.

"That may be true, but with no idea as to what he plans, our moves are limited."-Tansho said. "As far as we understand, you intend to intervene in the executions with the main plan of stopping the death of Kuchiki Rukia, correct? While admirable, I don't think we have much chance of stopping the true enemy if our main goal is protecting her."-Haneko honestly explained. "Well I'm afraid that's my plan, you don't like it? You don't have to."-Yoshirou answered irritably, stopping to face the pair. Tansho raised his hands in a placating gesture. "We did not mean to ask you to abandon her, but that perhaps we split our attention to where it is needed. That is to say we arrange ourselves so each unit has its own priority, it will be difficult since we are all needed at the execution grounds, but if each of us has its own role, we may yet stop whatever this plan is." "All right then, I'm listening."-Yoshirou said, curious as to what the men had to say. "The first role will of course be to yourself, stop the execution, save Rukia. The next priority will fall to us; make sure that no matter what the Soukyoku is not left unattended. While you said their main priority is not the Soukyoku, it will not hurt to be careful. We can perhaps split the unit that we bring with us into scouting all nearby locations for activity once everything goes into motion. If somebody makes a move, they can report to us with the necessary information, perhaps that way we shall discover Gin's movements easier."

"Good plan, but how do you intend to keep communication?"-Yoshirou asked. "Simple"-Haneko replied "We need to arrange a system for warning. If we mark two different priority kido signatures as the markers for warning and danger, we can easily locate the movement of the intended individuals. However, this plan only works if the opponent moves after we do, we are effectively going to have to bait our enemies into making a bad move. The more effective the bait, in other words the mess we make during our rescue attempt; the more likely we will force them out of hiding." Yoshirou was surprised that the men had come up with such a comprehensive plan only minutes after gaining the information they needed. **I really am glad that these two are on my side, they are a formidable pair.** "You guy's really are something, I've been lost for day's, unsure of what to do about all this, and here you guys are coming up with plans that could actually work. I'm really lucky to have men like you." Bowing, Tansho said "Not could, will. We will make the plan succeed, we assure you, you shall not stand alone Taichou." Haneko also bowed with his brother. "Asides it is your role that is the most dangerous, doing what we can to assist you is the least we can do. The strong will protect the weak, it is up to you to save her, we shall be the ones who watch your back."

"Although Yoshirou, if we do not hurry back soon, even we shall not be strong enough to protect you from Kira."-Tansho observed, a rare instant of humour escaping from him. **Oh crap, he's right.** Yoshirou realised. "Okay let's get going!" Yoshirou said as he vanished with shunpo. The twin's just stared surprised at where he had been. "I'm sure you only use shunpo in emergencies…"-Haneko said. Tansho replied-"This is an emergency brother, if he doesn't get back soon, Kira will indeed kill him." Haneko shrugged his shoulders, taking a different direction. "Haneko, where are you going? Should we not return to the Barracks?"-Tansho asked confused. "I don't want to get caught up in that confrontation brother, come, let's see if there's any food stalls open yet in the Seijōtōkyorin. I happen to be starving, using shunpo too much makes me extremely hungry, and that distance we covered today was perhaps reaching my limit. I have no doubt you're probably the same."-Haneko explained. Upon hearing his own stomach growling, Tansho relented and followed his brother.

(Kido Corps Barracks)

"Taichou, what on earth happened!"-Kira demanded**. Seems Tansho was dead on…** "Look, there was a little disagreement between two Captains that we had to settle."-Yoshirou explained. "Disagreement! You said that two Captains were in a death match, there's no way that was a disagreement!"-Kira argued back. "Well, same could be said for the argument me and Byakuya had, yet there were no problems in the end." "OTHER THAN YOU LEAVING WITH A HOLE IN YOUR CHEST!" It seemed nobody was going to be brave enough to stop Kira's raging, as much as the men would die fighting for Yoshirou, they weren't going to come save him now. **And I ask so little of them too **Yoshirou thought. "Look, can you see any holes on me? No, Tansho and Haneko are also fine, they just feared facing you. That says a lot when they would willingly charge into the middle of a Captain rank fight, but feared returning to their own squad…"-Yoshirou said. It seemed Kira didn't take his word on his lack of injuries as she quickly scanned his whole body for any new holes. Satisfied he was untouched, she seemed to calm down.

"Will you at least tell me what happened properly."-Kira asked more quietly. Yoshirou, taking this as the sign that the worst of the nagging match was over, started explaining. "Well, Hitsugaya and Gin were locked in a fight, with two Vice-Captains injured nearby when we arrived. We simply saved the Vice-Captains from further injury, then I managed to stop the fight. Well, I say I did, but it seemed Gin retreated upon seeing that Matsumoto arrive, Hitsugaya's Vice Captain. Turns out Gin might just be the man behind a lot of things, but we don't have any conclusive proof. At least one good thing came from intervening tonight, no people were killed, and we gained Hitsugaya as an ally. He seems suspicious behind the true purpose of the execution and has decided to stop it." Kira seemed to accept the explanation this time. "Well while you were out, a message came by the squad, the execution of Rukia will be in 29 hours, that was about an hour ago, so it will be 28 hours now, just before 12.00 tomorrow."-Kira explained. "Shit, I knew it was on that day, but I hoped it might be later than that. Well, seem's I don't have enough time to catch up on my sleep, I'm going to have to just get moving now." But first, I have something to do.

(Kido Corps Study Room)

Now, if I just search through these ones Yoshirou thought as he pulled out some scrolls. He soon found the research scroll he was after, _The races of the human world: Quincy._ **Well, I don't have time to convince that Ishida to help me, so this will do for now** Yoshirou thought. Unravelling the scroll and putting it on the nearby desk, he quickly found the section he was after.

_The principle's behind the techniques of the Quincy are very much alike to the principles of Kido. However, instead of diving into the flow of your own reiatsu, they will guide the reishi outside of their body into a flow matching their own reiatsu flow, directing the guided reishi into their weapons to fight. This is a conservative technique that allows a Quincy to fight without utilising their inner power, while less readily useable than shinigami techniques; it shows no fatigue to the individual. However, this technique is inadvisable to-_

Yoshirou stopped there, he had found what he wanted and it seemed relatively easy. **Just guide the reishi about into a flow that matches your own and channel it? That seems easy, let's try it.** He closed his eyes and focused on his own reiatsu. After carefully memorising the flow, he started to gather the reishi about him with his senses. He found that the movement was rather easy; it seemed to prefer following the flow he gave it rather than just being gathered, following his senses smoothly. Excited, Yoshirou tried doing what Kyoraku had advised, absorbing them himself. However, the moment he did he felt excruciating pain across his body. Shocked, he stopped the technique immediately, falling to his knees, breathing heavily. **What the hell was that?**

_Yoshirou, yet again your impatience is your undoing, why didn't you finish reading?_

**Reading what?**

_You know what, I saw that little warning you skipped reading, next time read the whole thing or your going to wind up killing yourself! That same thing happened when you tried using that Kukanten'i first time, you materialised with your arm stuck in a wall, if I hadn't used my ability to reduce the wall about your arm before you fully materialised, you would have lost your arm!_

**Oh yeah, I forgot about doing that. Funny how tiny mistakes can ruin big spells like that, I simply pulled my hands apart horizontally rather than vertically and it teleported me sideways.**

_Yes I know, explaining yourself to the nearby spectators took all day, and they still didn't believe your cover up story. Your lucky you have forgiving men in your squad, had it been non squad members you would have been caught for using illegal spells._

**And that would have ruined my day** Yoshirou finished, the pain having recessed now. Picking himself back up, putting a hand on the desk to support himself, Yoshirou quickly started reading the scroll…then stopped and read the scroll beside it, the one he had put out**. Who on earth had a scroll on zanpakuto's out?** Yoshirou mused as he looked over the right scroll, searching for the paragraph again.

…_no fatigue to the individual. However, this technique is inadvisable to use to increase personal regeneration rate. While Shinigami absorb reishi to recover lost reiatsu, the body can only convert so much at a time; taking in more than this amount can cause damage to the users body._

Ah, that's the problem Yoshirou realised, thinking over what Kyoraku meant by advising this technique. **…perhaps I am meant to learn how to control specific amount's of reishi? Well, maybe control is more important than simply amassing as much as possible, it's certainly worth testing. But maybe later, I need to get going now. I have something I want to do before I return to Kurosaki's place.**

_You intend to see the captured Ryoka?_

**Yep, I want to see whether Ganju and ishida have recovered all right. Also, I might get to see this Chad person Kurosaki spoke of **Yoshirou finished as he rolled up the scroll, carefully placing it alongside the other scrolls to do with the human realm. **I might as well put this one away as well** he thought as he reached for the zanpakuto scroll. "Ah Taichou, your finished then?"-Kira asked as she stepped in. seeing his hand on the scroll, she quickly walked over and took it. "Sorry, that's mine, didn't mean to leave it out." "How come you have something like that out?"-Yoshirou asked. "Don't you remember? You asked me to work on my shikai, I was just seeing if there was a way to summon your shikai without using the release incantation."-Kira explained. "Why would you need something like that? Your release command is pretty short."-Yoshirou asked. "Oh, just that my release command kinda gives away my weapon too easily, it's pretty easy to guess it's a lightning zanpakuto if you have to use the term "Spark" to release it."-Kira explained. "…you do know hollows really aren't intelligent enough to notice that right?" "Not all of them, I still remember that Creedo that you killed, he was good enough to outsmart a shinigami, he got Masahiro to snap, he made a mistake and then…"-Kira trailed off, obviously not liking what she was remembering. "Ah crap, sorry. Well look, my zanpakuto gives itself away with the release command, but I never worry do I? It's not something to care about, just make sure you finish your foe and you won't have any worries."-Yoshirou reassured her.

"Well, I need to be heading out now. If Haneko and Tansho return, tell them I won't be coming back until late, so they better have their team assembled when I get back or they are on real world observation duty for the next two decades!"-Yoshirou joked as he turned to leave. "Ah, another thing, tomorrow you're going to be with me at the execution, so you had better prepare your stuff tonight, make sure you have some clean robes ready. Also make sure that there is some of those ceremonial robes for the team the twins assemble, grey ones will do I think."-he said as he disappeared.

(Squad 4 Barracks)

"Ah, good evening Yoshirou-kun. I didn't expect any visit from you; perhaps you have come to clear your name for that incident yesterday?" Unohana said as she saw Yoshirou walk into the barracks. "Unohana-san! Well, I came by to see whether or not the Ryoka have recovered."-Yoshirou explained as he walked in. Unohona arched an eyebrow "Really? I had expected you to have accumulated yet another injury, but you seem to be in fine condition. By the way, why have you decided to use larger robes than normal? I do think that you stopped growing a few decades back judging from the medical records." **She's memorised my medical records? Does she memorise everybody's or something? **"Well, I'm afraid I kinda damaged my old set, and these were the closest fit on hand, so I used them." "Really? I find it strange that such a big person would be around for you to use theirs. If I didn't know any better, I would say those seem to be Kenpachi's own robes."-Unohana observed. "Wow, how do you figure that?"-Yoshirou asked, surprised. "Well, the edges of the robes are practically destroyed, and the lovely squad patch showing the 11th division flower that is hanging out would both be good enough clues, wouldn't you agree?"-Unohana asked. "The more interesting question is why the sudden desire to pilfer other Captains robes? Were poor Iemura's glasses not enough for you?"

"Unohana-san, you know I wouldn't steal those glasses, I hate shades."-Yoshirou defended. "And these robes were a mix-up, I didn't realise they were Kenpachi's when I took them, and since he realised the same and didn't try to kill me, I don't think I count as stealing them…hopefully…"-Yoshirou trailed off, worried now that the killer Captain may indeed come after him for stealing the robes. "Oh I would hope not, you seem to becoming much the deviant recently, only yesterday Kyoraku told me of you and Soi Fon, I hope you two are happy."-Unohana said. **For god's sake, he said he would shut up till he had proof, that liar! **"That's not true!"-Yoshirou protested. "Oh, and he warned me you would deny furiously if pressed as well, I was simply giving my blessings."-Unohana said back. **Wait, she doesn't really believe him, does she?** Yoshirou worried, until a light laugh dispelled his thoughts. "Oh Yoshirou-kun, you are simply too easy to make fun of. I know that whenever I listen to Kyoraku, if Nanao Ise isn't there with him, then nearly all of what he says will most likely be lies anyway. That and I think Soi Fon is a little too high for somebody like you." **Oh that stung.** "Anyway, you said you came here to see the Ryoka? The boy you helped to bring in has healed perfectly, however something has happened to him, he seems to have lost all of his spiritual powers. As of the moment he is no stronger than the average human soul, and I don't think there is any method you can use to heal his injuries. The other man is also recovering, although it is a slow recovery, he is already up and making noise, he is a lively man. The last man seems to have recovered fully, but seems to say nothing. I'm not sure what you will be able to talk to them about, however, I shall assign you a guard so that you may meet with them."

**A guard? That is going to be problematic…** Yoshirou thought as he followed the turning Unohana. "Ah, one more thing, I can't believe I almost forgot. The Sou-Taichou has asked me to continue training you in medical duties, if you have the time after meeting the Ryoka, you can come see me in my office if you wish to start now."-Unohana explained. "Medical training? Why would he want me to learn medical skills?"-Yoshirou asked, confused. "Simple, out of the entire Captain's of Soul Society, I am the only person fully versed in medical abilities. That is a massive difference, twelve…eleven other captains to me alone. That and I am a non-combatant, as of now you present the best option for combining fighting skill with healing, perhaps the only option, so I have been requested to teach you medical techniques. You would be surprised to learn there are two other teachers that have been assigned to you, there was meant to be three, but the last teacher declined the post, insisting that giving you a teacher for Kido would be relatively pointless. For now you will know who they are when they decide to present themselves to you."-Unohana explained, before suddenly exclaiming "Ah, Hanatarou-kun! Could you come here please?" Hanatarou, who had just come around the corner, jumped in recognition from seeing Yoshirou. Unohana didn't miss this "Oh, you two have met before?" "W-W-Well-" Hanatarou started to stutter before Yoshirou cut in "Yeah! He's the kid I met who was caretaking for Kuchiki Rukia before she was moved to the Shrine of Penitance, Hanatarou Yamada right?" Hanatarou simply nodded at this.

"Then that is perfect, Hanatarou-kun, will you please escort Yoshirou-kun to the secure area where the Ryoka are located? You are to keep an eye on him as he visits them. Sorry, Yoshirou-kun, but this is just the normal procedures that we should observe, I hold no suspicion of you."-Unohana apologised as she walked away. **Hold suspicions? I really don't understand her, she either made a huge mistake, or I am really underestimating her. Making sure the meeting only had Hanatarou overhearing? Either she messed up, or she is interested in seeing what I do next. Either way this is another opportunity.** Yoshirou thought as he followed Hanatarou down the hallways. They both continued to walk for a while, neither saying anything until they reached the rooms leading to the cells. After making sure there was nobody nearby, Hanatarou let out his pent up breath. "W-Well, it's good that we managed to get here unnoticed. Yoshirou-san, have you come to help them escape?" –Hanatarou asked, his nervous features betraying some hope from seeing him. Yoshirou shook his head, sadly replying "Impossible, you know what your Taichou is like, we would never get the Ryoka out of here unless Unohana was out of the squad, and she already basically told me that she will be waiting here, she has no intentions of leaving while I am here."

"Oh, do you think Unohana-Taichou knows you were with the Ryoka? None of us told her about your presence, and you only healed Ichigo-san so we didn't have any of your reiatsu on us, but I t-think Unohana-Taichou is aware anyway."-Hanatarou said. "Yeah, I think so too, she is waiting to see what I try to do, so I can't try anything. Still, I have some news to deliver to the Ryoka anyway, so I can give them something to be glad about, I know what is happening with Kurosaki." "Oh, they would probably be glad to hear anything you have to say. B-But be careful, I think Ganju has planned to knock out the next person who comes in and try to escape. I tried to explain to him not to but he seems determined to try, just watch out for him when he does." **Oh great, when we first met he tried hitting me, and now he's going to try again.** Hanatarou continued down towards the locked area, unlocking it. Yoshirou walked in, on high alert for Ganju, however something entirely different happened. He felt a bone crushing impact, as he was launched backwards and into the nearby wall, debris flying everywhere from his impact. He heard Hanatarou cry out in surprise, and a load stomping as whatever hit him charged the gap between Yoshirou and itself quickly. Shaking his head to quieten the ringing noise, Yoshirou quickly used an Enkosen spell, but whatever giant faced him tore through it like it was nothing, slamming into his body once again. However, Yoshirou had gotten a purchase on the floor, using his own strength; he took the charge, and stopped his foe, instead throwing him back. He then quickly moved, grabbing the mans arms, he threw him to the floor, quickly kneeling on his back. Since the man's hands were already bound, that was all it required. **This guy had that much physical power even with his spiritual powers bound? That is insane!**

"Chad, I said to wait until I hit him fir-… Yoshirou!" Ganju said, halfway through charging to aid the fallen man, stumbling and coming to a halt. "What in hell are you doing here! And why did you have to stop Chad! I'm sure he would have only broken a few of your bones before running with all of us! You shinigami can survive more than that, we could have gotten out of here!"-Ganju shouted, irritated that his plan had gone so awry thanks to him. "Escape? I saved your ass by stopping you, none of you would have made it out of here alive, even I would never dare face the Captain of this squad, she even makes Kenpachi cringe!"-Yoshirou stated, moving off of the defeated Chad's body. The giant slowly and carefully got back up. Upon standing and facing him, Yoshirou realised his mistake, the man was only slightly taller than him, but his arms were massive, they were easily twice as thick as Yoshirou's own. "Sorry."-Chad simply said, before walking back into the cell, and sitting beside the lying down form of Ishida. "See, I told you that plan was useless."-Ishida stated, turning to see Yoshirou. "So, it's you again." "Huh, you know him too Ishida?"-Ganju asked, surprised at the knowledge. "Yeah, he helped me and Inoue in a way earlier on, if he hadn't I would probably have been killed by that mad scientists sneak attack, it was only that I was on high alert already that we survived it."

"Yeah, I heard you took on Mayuri, what the hell were you thinking Ishida? I know you noticed him when we fought, so why in hell did you not run from him?"-Yoshirou asked "That bastard needed to be taught a lesson; I would gladly fight him again right now if I was capable."-Ishida stated, looking at his own hand for some reason. "Wait, you two fought each other, yet Yoshirou is responsible for you surviving? Will somebody explain what the hell you guys are talking about!"-Ganju shouted in confusion. Chad simply kept quiet. **That guy…he's more intelligent than he looks, he's taking everything in rather than arguing** Yoshirou realised. "Well, simply put before I met you and Kurosaki, I encountered Inoue and Ishida, they accidentally revealed themselves to me and we ended up fighting. I deliberately lost the fight to let them escape, I would have helped them but a second presence in a wall nearby had me hesitate. After scaring Mayuri out of the wall, I used kido to send a message to Ishida, giving him directions and warnings." "Hold on, you _"scared Mayuri out of the wall"?_"-Ishida interrupted. "Yeah, I basically threatened to kill whatever was hiding there if it didn't reveal itself, he popped out right away rather than take any chances." Ishida seemed to think to himself for a second, before saying "It seam's Urahara was telling the truth, if we encountered you, and you fought for real we would have lost with no chance. If your good enough to put fear into that Captain, I doubt even my full powers could have handled you."

"Yeah, well maybe's and what if's don't matter, besides I have news for all you guys."-Yoshirou announced. "Both bad and good news." They all seemed to look at each other, before Chad simply spoke-"Start with the good news then." "Okay, well to Ishida, Inoue has been captured by the 11th Squad." Ganju seemed to fall into dismay when he heard that. "What the hell, we said good news first! Being captured by those monsters, where in hell does that suggest good news!" Ishida seemed to sigh upon hearing this, indicating that he had already guessed as such would happen. "It's good news because she is perhaps with the only Captain who would keep her capture secret. Kenpachi is completely taken by the idea of fighting Kurosaki again, if keeping Inoue safe may earn that right for him, she will be treated as good as a princess at that squad. I should know, they tried to hide her from me when I checked, although Kenpachi immediately revealed her after seeing it was me who was searching. I think he trusted me since I was the last person to see Kurosaki, and he hasn't been captured so I must have let him go." Chad seemed to perk up upon hearing this. "You know where Ichigo is?"-he asked.

"Well yes, I know where he is but it's not a place you guys would be able to find without guidance. He is in intense training with Yoruichi at the-" "Yoruichi-san? How on earth can he be training with Yoruichi-san?"-Ishida asked confused. "For god's sake, if you guys keep interrupting me we will be at this all day! I came here to give you this news but you won't shut up!"-Yoshirou said rather exasperatedly. Ganju started saying-"What the hell, you basta-!" but Chad's light nudge seemed to shut him up. Ishida just rolled his eyes before sitting silently. "Right, as I was saying he is training in order to gain enough power so he can defeat Byakuya and save Rukia, he had a rude awakening to the gap still existing between him and Byakuya after his first botched attempt. Of course Ganju had already been knocked out by Byakuya when Kurosaki arrived so he missed seeing the action. Anyway, he is training to learn Bankai, the final form of the zanpakuto, and something that even I have yet to attain, although I am pretty close." Ishida seemed to understand what this meant, but Ganju simply had a confused look on his face. Chad just looked the same impassive way as before. "well, I'm afraid that's most of the good news, your friends are safe and Kurosaki is still fighting. Now the bad news is that Rukia's execution has been moved forwards again…to tomorrow." Even Chad's placid expression failed upon hearing this. "Tomorrow? That's insane, why have they done this! We have to get out now!" Ganju shouted, standing back up. "Yoshirou, if you break my cuffs, I can use my magic to escape here with no trace! My magic let's me reduce stone into sand, I can just dissolve the wall and we get out!"

Yoshirou shook his head though. "No, although you probably won't like to hear this, there's nothing you guys can do other than survive. Your not anywhere near strong enough to make a difference, the only one who could would be Ishida, but I can tell he's in no shape to, even if his max power was enough to defeat a Captain, something has gone wrong. If I don't miss my guess, you've lost all of your power Ishida, am I right?" All the faces turned to Ishida, who sighed irritably, pushing his glasses up further on his face. "…yes, your right. In exchange for the ability to use my reishi control ability to its maximum, I overloaded my body capabilities. To stop the damage, my soul link was closed, permanently. I take it since you know about Quincy's, you understand this Yoshirou?" "Yeah, only earlier I made a mistake and absorbed too much reishi for what my body could handle, even as a shinigami the pain was incredible."-Yoshirou agreed. "Anyway, as it stands you guys can do nothing. However, we do have allies, many of the Captains have decided to make a move to stop the execution's, with their help and Kurosaki's efforts, we may yet save her."-Yoshirou assured them. "For what it is worth, I shall do everything I can to resolve this issue, I think I have already discovered a conspiracy behind the execution. Many of the Captains also suspect this, one of the Captains have already been murdered, and I barely managed to stop another killing. There is something going on, and I will stop it."

Turning to leave, Yoshirou said-"You guys just rest here, when everything's over I'll make sure you guys are released as well. And Ganju, don't try another escape attempt, you will probably be killed, especially since this attempt means that Unohana is going to be unhappy that she will have to arrange for repairs." Hanatarou quickly locked the gate behind them and they left. "Ah by the way, how come you're not in the cell with them?"-Yoshirou asked him curiously. "U-Unohana only gave me a warning rather than imprisoning me, since I was technically their hostage."-Hanatarou explained. "Oh? That was either luck or some plan she has."-Yoshirou said, wondering just how much the Captain was hiding behind her motherly smile. "W-Well I need to leave now, I-I had a task I needed to do before I was told to watch you. G-Good luck with trying to help her."-Hanatarou stuttered, only too aware that he couldn't openly say much now they were back among his squad members. He quickly darted into a nearby corridor, vanishing amidst the mass of shinigami.

**Well it's a relief that they are all okay, but I never imagined the last Ryoka would be somebody as fierce as that guy **Yoshirou thought.** Even bound, he still had enough force to put me halfway through a wall. I'm not so weak that it would faze me, but it was impressive for a human non-the-less. How on earth did so many strong individuals just appear in the real world? After the elimination of the Quincy all those years back, it was estimated that there was only one family within that Karakura town that had the ability to use spiritual power, the so called "Uryuu Quincy's." However, that Chad, Inoue, even Kurosaki all had power as humans that was far beyond the normal, I just don't get it…Karakura Town…even the appearance of special hollows like that Creedo, Grand Fisher, the Adjuchas Ginrei killed, the Huge Hollow assault Aizen defeated, the Menos Grande report recently. For a single town, it is indeed the hotspot for many problems. Perhaps when this is all over, I can do a proper check of that town, there must be something that attracts so much attention, too many shinigami have been killed on duty there recently, hell if I hadn't been careful, an entire platoon of recruits could have been lost there. It's too risky for the ordinary shinigami; I'm going to have to find out just why this keeps happening.**

**Although, if I don't go to Unohana soon, I mightn't be alive long enough to care **Yoshirou suddenly remembered.** Now where in hell is her office? **Searching for any recognisable corridors, Yoshirou realised that he had done another one of his common tricks, gotten lost.** Crap, okay nearest shinigami questioning it is. **No sooner he thought this then he realised there was somebody looking at him curiously. "Ah, Yoshirou isn't it? How come you're back again?"-a certain Vice-Captain asked. Turning, Yoshirou noticed Isane Kotetsu was looking at him. "Is it to do with Renji-fukutaichou?" "Huh? What about that pineapple would I care about?"-Yoshirou asked. "I'm surprised somebody would have come already, it was only this morning we managed to report it." **What?** "Escaped? Was he held here? How come Unohana didn't manage to stop him?"-Yoshirou asked. "We never expected him to make an escape attempt, he has no reason to. However, we found that he had somehow broken his own manacles and destroyed the wall in his prison. Since we never predicted he would try and escape we left his zanpakuto in the cell with him." **Wait, why would he flee? …He can't have changed his mind and decided to go after Kurosaki again? **Yoshirou noticed that Isane was looking at him with a worried expression. Sighing in an exasperated manner, Yoshirou said-"Tell you what, I'll go and fetch your truant pineapple and haul his ass back here. If I don't return in half an hour with red head, then go make the report again, I probably couldn't find him if I don't return. Oh, also tell Unohana sorry, but I can't attend my lessons."

Yoshirou quickly managed to find the exit to the barracks, running up the path outside. **I don't understand why he has ran for it, he's either changed his mind or is planning something stupid. Either way, stopping him is probably for the best, I don't doubt Kurosaki could probably handle him, but with what little time he has left, fighting Renji would be a distraction.** Yoshirou thought, attuning his senses towards wherever Renji might be. He was surprised when he discovered Renji was already close to the location where Kurosaki was. **Shit! It is Kurosaki he's after! Better hurry, I still have time to catch him, he must be injured still with that slow pace he has.** Yoshirou thought as he quickly activated his shunpo.

(10 minutes later)

Less than a kilometre remained between Yoshirou and the hideout when he finally caught up to Renji. He was sliding down the side of a rock face when he spotted Renji, leaping from rock to rock. However, it seemed Renji also noticed him as well. He suddenly disappeared behind a particularly big boulder, hiding his reiatsu. **Too bad, that doesn't work for me** Yoshirou thought as he jumped towards the boulder. However, just as a few metres remained between him and his target, he suddenly heard a shout. "Howl, Zabimaru!" **Uh oh.** The boulder he had been heading for suddenly got sliced in half as the whip like Zanpakuto headed straight for him. **Not bad!** Yoshirou thought as he barely managed to draw his Zanpakuto to block the blade, using the momentum from the impact to somersault backwards, skidding along the ground as his feet tried to find purchase. **For a guy who was pretty much trashed the other day, he's recovered well enough to use his shikai. **

Just as he was about to try a more peaceful negotiation, Renji suddenly appeared in front of him, although none of his usual cocksure shouting was included, he seemed to be concentrating far more on Yoshirou than he did against Kurosaki. **Shunpo? He didn't use that against Kurosaki** Yoshirou thought as he ducked under the incoming blade. **Still, even if he's attacking quickly, he's still too injured to fight properly against me.** Yoshirou quickly slashed down with his blade, aiming to force Renji back so he could use a bakudo to restrain him. However, he never guessed Renji would move in to his attack, the blade missing his body by mere inches. Renji retracted his whip blade, forming a sword shape and swinging in against Yoshirou. Yoshirou quickly jumped back himself, once again trying to find distance. However Renji followed him relentlessly, swinging again and again, trying to catch Yoshirou with the sword at close range. As he dodged and blocked the rain of blows, Yoshirou came to understand what Renji was doing with his relentless barrage. **Distance? That cunning bastard is trying to neutralise my kido by keeping at close range with me! He must have realised that I can't use my best techniques at close range when I was fighting Byakuya! **This time, as Renji swung his sword down again, Yoshirou instead of just blocking locked his blade against Renji's own. "Renji, stop this pointless fighting, your already in enough trouble as it is."-Yoshirou calmly stated as they both strained to force the other one down. Well Renji was, Yoshirou wasn't putting much effort into it, the injured Vice Captain didn't have enough strength to match him.

However, he was totally surprised by the answer he received. "Please, back down and let me go." Yoshirou was so surprised by the almost pleading tone that he stopped putting force into his sword. Swiftly taking advantage, Renji forced his shikai down, sending Yoshirou flying backwards. **Crap!** Yoshirou thought as he lifted his zanpakuto to stop the follow up attack. However there wasn't one, the moment Renji had forced him back, he had resumed his attempt to reach the hideout. As Yoshirou finally landed, being forced to use a Sho spell behind him to stop himself from hitting a boulder, continuing his skidding from the force of the attack, he was confused as to how Renji was acting. However, he decided that he still had to stop him. Now that Renji had let up on the assault, Yoshirou could make use of his Bakudo. Quickly leafing through his spells, Yoshirou had to think quickly. **There's a lot of big ravines about here, the one I use can't simply restrict his movements, I need to pin him to a surface of my choice, or he might escape.**

Making his choice quickly, he closed his hands together. Raising them up high, Yoshirou shouted out loudly "Bakudo no. 75, Gochūtekkan!" As he swiped his hands down, a giant set of pillars flew down out of the sky on Renji's location. However, Renji had seen it coming, quickly using shunpo to escape the spell. However, the moment his shunpo finished, Yoshirou had also used shunpo to arrive right in front of Renji, three points of light shining in front of him forming a triangle. "Shi-!" Renji started to curse, but Yoshirou quickly fired the Shitotsu Sansen spell at him. The points of light fired forward, catching each arm and his legs, sending him flying towards the rock face and pinning him there. Renji quickly tried to break the spell, working his sword arm free nearly immediately, raising his shikai to strike at the other shafts of light. But Yoshirou quickly intoned "Bakudo no.61,Rikujōkōrō!" The two remaining light beams flew from his arms, reforming as six wide beams of light, ramming into Renji's torso. He dropped from the cliff face, landing in a heap on the ledge below. **Exactly like I planned.** Yoshirou thought as he quickly made the descent towards the struggling man.

"Now, what exactly were you planning pineapple, breaking out of prison like that?"-Yoshirou asked. Turning to look at him, Renji seemed angry at the insult, but once again he surprised Yoshirou. "Please, let me go! I must go!"-Renji almost begged. "And do what exactly? Bring back the man you failed to defeat? You're not strong enough to do that, just come back quietly with me, there's still time before they report your break out." "No! I don't care about beating that idiot anymore! I must go, I must save Rukia, and he is my best chance of succeeding!" **Wow, seem's I was wrong, he is after Kurosaki but for different reasons.** "You just told me you're assisting the Ryoka, that's a pretty bad idea."-Yoshirou bluntly stated. That seemed to slightly amuse Renji. "Like you can talk mullet, you're the one who helped him first." Yoshirou laughed at that. "Well, I suppose I'm caught then. Okay, I'll let you go, I needed to go see Kurosaki anyway."-he answered as he released the spell about Renji. "And think of a different insult pineapple, are you blind? A mullet? Mines curtained, not cut in that stupid style, I'll seriously hurt you if you compare my hair to a mullet again." Renji rubbed his wrists, saying-"What the hell is that? Curtained? Man, you guys come up with some stupid names for haircuts." "Say's the walking pineapple. C'mon, it's this way."

(Cave Hideout)

"Yoshirou, I told you not to pick up strays while you were out!"-Yoruichi complained as he arrived in the cave with Renji. **See****ms she must have noticed us fighting. **"Can't help it, the stray wouldn't stop following me!"-Yoshirou jokingly complained. "S'pose those kind of jokes I can take after calling myself a howling dog to Ichigo."-Renji muttered. "Anyway, who's the sexy woman?" Yoruichi seemed to laugh at that-"Finally, somebody here who isn't a damn prude! These two do nothing but bitch whenever I walk about naked…make that three prudes…"-Yoruichi disappointingly finished after Renji looked at her with a dumbfounded look. "Well, that's Yoruichi."-Yoshirou explained. Renji seemed to think to himself for a moment, obviously the name was familiar to him. However, after a full ten seconds of thinking he seemed to give it up. "Right, I figured since Ichigo is here, this is some kind of training spot right? I just need a corner somewhere to do some practicing in quiet; also got some stuff to tell that might make the idiot hurry up." Yoruichi narrowed her eyes at the last statement, obviously not liking what Renji was getting at. "Yep, bad news of the worst kind Yoruichi, we don't have three days anymore."-Yoshirou stated as he walked past her, Renji following in his wake. Yoruichi must have been shocked because she made no attempt to move from her place. Moving over to the marker for the downstairs area, Yoshirou said-"Now, help me move this boulder Renji…Renji?" Renji had pulled his zanpakuto out, a strange gleam in his eyes. "Howl, Zabimaru!"

Both men fell into the training area simultaneously. "Fuck, Renji I said move the damn thing not destroy it!"-Yoshirou shouted as he landed lightly. "Yoruichi is going to kill you!" "Shut up! It was in the way so I moved it, that's just what you asked!"-Renji complained as he picked himself up from his small crater, it seemed he didn't land quite as well as Yoshirou. However, both men stopped their ranting as what seemed to be a shadow suddenly flew between them. Turning, they watched as whatever it was crashed into a boulder, splitting it into fragements. The shadow quickly jumped clear, landing coughing and spitting in the form of Kurosaki Ichigo. He seemed to not notice either of them, picking up a sword from the ground nearby him. **Wait sword?** Yoshirou thought as he looked about. Sure enough the entire cave was littered with zanpakuto blades, and amidst the highest concentration was a man swathed in a black cloak. **Zangetsu…****so it seems Yoruichi was right** Yoshirou thought **her method has at least called him out.**

We shall stop now Ichigo Zangetsu called out, stabbing the sword from his hands back into the ground. "No! I can still keep going!" Kurosaki called out determinedly. You're too distracted, take a break now or your carelessness will see me kill you Zangestu replied. Kurosaki cursed quietly, gripping the blade in his hand tightly, before he finally noticed the two people before him. "Hey Yoshirou, seems you finally got ba- Renji?"-Kurosaki said in surprise. Renji put on a sneer as he said "Well ain't you having fun? Lemme join in." He walked over to the stunned Kurosaki. ""What the hell're you doing here?" That's written all over your face. Don't worry, nothing big. Time just ran out. So I just wanted a place I could concentrate and train." Kurosaki seemed confused. "Time…ran out?" Even Zangetsu looked interested. "Well…you I'll tell…the time of Rukia's execution…got changed." "What?"-Kurosaki said dumb founded, Zangetsu's features adopting a rather fierce look. **I guess his zanpakuto isn't the type to be shocked by things** Yoshirou thought. "The new execution time is…noon tomorrow." Kurosaki looked like he just got slugged by a sledgehammer. Renji continued regardless, turning around to walk away "It sucks to admit it, but my power right now ain't quite enough to save Rukia. That's why I came here." Ichigo seemed to look worried at that prospect, but Renji continued "Don't worry, I won't get in the way of your training. I've already accomplished materialization. Only a tiny bit left until Bankai." As he said this, he raised his shikai up; wind seemed to collect along the blade edge, before reforming beside him, kicking up a cloud of dust. "We'll be doing our thing over here."-Renji finished, as the dust settled to reveal an enormous creature, a chimera that resembled a Nue, but with only baboon and snake parts.

"To-tomorrow?" Yoshirou turned around, seeing that Yoruichi had joined them. "Bankai in that time is utterly…" There was suddenly a loud cracking noise. Kurosaki had somehow destroyed his sword with his reiatsu. "Sure you want to say that Yoruichi-san? Ain't you the one who got me into this training? In that case, you don't get to give up." Yoruichi seemed stunned by his resolve, but gathering her wits, she shouted back-"But Ichigo, if you don't complete Bankai by tomorrow-." "I told you, I don't want to hear what happens if I can't! If the deadline is tomorrow…" Kurosaki interrupted, before raising what was left of the sword in his hands. Crushing it to dust between his hands, his reiatsu sky rocketing about him, creating a wind that whipped at everyone's clothing, he declared "That just means I take care of it today!"

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**Damn that was a difficult chapter to pull out, in the end most of my time was wasted on deciding what I would do in the last part, it was a toss up between going to see Rukia or trying to mistakenly stop Renji. In the end I settled on the second one because Rukia going to the executions without a hope of rescue was better than one who was warned ahead of time that there was going to be a coup d'etat, also I wanted to bring Renji into the fold better, I only portrayed him as an ass earlier on, so I wanted to both improve him and bring my charecter into a, if somwhat antagonistic, freindship with him.**

**As always, if you liked the story, review it. If you want reminders for it, favourite it, every fan makes me appreciate doing this more, it's nice to know your liked lol. ANyhow, see ya next chapter!**


	20. Chapter 20 Final afternoon

**Heyo people, I got a second chapter out in the same day! Lucky for the fans! As I said earlier, this chapter once again hints at the possibilities of a relationship between O.C. and Soi Fon. By the way, i'm sorry for the serious readers and my perverted jokes with Yoruichi, I just need to express myself sometimes, and she presents a rather fun oppertunity since I am not brave enough to do a serious bit. Also, we have an early introduction to Hichigo! Yes, I decided to go with Hichigo, but I did put down that he simply chose that name for conveniences sakes (one of the perks of not giving immediate names to charecters, you can easily give fan names in with a simple "Just call me *fan name*, that sounds pretty awesome so it will do for now.") Anyhow, have fun reading!**

**UPDATE:Crap! I just realised while reading this through again I have put Aizen as the leader of the 6th squad for ages, bit of a blunder, he's 5th squad. No worries, I am going to go back over my old stuff as soon as I can and refix it all (A rather daunting task with this being now over 100k words 0.0)**

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"C'mon I don't have time to be doing this!"-Kurosaki rebelled as he sat down on a rock facing Yoshirou. "I need to finish my Bankai training now!" Calm yourself Ichigo Zangetsu said from behind him. Your soul has already been stressed badly from our training; this is the chance to perhaps recover. "Yeah, what Zangetsu said, and besides if you learn to control your reiatsu flow, you may find it easier to control Zangetsu in turn. So learning this will help you complete your Bankai too."-Yoshirou explained as he sat down too, facing his rather reluctant new pupil. Great, I have to teach the rebellious kid how to use an ancient magic art, this is going to go well I just know it Yoshirou thought sarcastically. "If it makes you feel any better, I am going to try and teach you one of Byakuya's own signature techniques. If a man of his power uses it freely, then you can be assured it is a technique that you can make use of." Kurosaki seemed to perk up slightly upon hearing this. "Now, since we don't have much time I can't teach you a complex technique. Watch me, and watch my movements, by the end of our l'il session, your going to at least be able to do this or I am going to kick your lazy ass for not trying properly." Yoshirou pointed to his left, channelling his reiatsu towards his finger point. Concentrating, he fired his Kido out of his finger. A thin beam of lightning shot out, drilling straight through a nearby boulder and continuing for a while before dissipating.

"This is Hado no. 04, Byakurai. Don't let its name or looks trick you, it is a high intensity beam that pierces straight through whatever you fire it at, with the additional characteristic of slight paralysis effects on the area it hits. Now while this is low numbered, it is an ideal spell for you as all spells levelled 5 or below do not have a chant to them due to the relative ease of controlling them. It also has multiple uses as it is fast, can be fired consecutively and with it's piercing characteristic, it requires less reiatsu to still do tremendous damage. It's only downside is that it's thin, the damage is pretty localised, even Byakuya's spell has a diameter total of only ten centimetres and he's pretty much mastered it."-Yoshirou explained. However Kurosaki was just staring at him confused. Sighing exasperatedly, Yoshirou simplified it to "It's an ideal spell for battle." "Yeah I get that much, but how in hell do I do kido to begin with? You kinda jumped the gun a bit." Christ I forgot I'm dealing with a bloody human, he probably doesn't even understand what Kido is Yoshirou lamented internally. I hope he picks it up better than Soi Fon did.

"All right, you have to calm yourself and go into your own reiatsu stream to-" "Oh, I can do that easy enough, I was taught that when I was with Ganju and the others."-Kurosaki explained, pulling into his reiatsu as it glowed a blue about him. "God, that's one hell of a rough way to do it, your reiatsu is going everywhere!"-Yoshirou stated as he saw the reiatsu lost all about Kurosaki. "Nothing I can do about it, I constantly leak reiatsu anyway, you probably didn't notice being a Captain class yourself." Jeez, I said this method may help him to do his Bankai, but I really don't know at all if it's true or not. "Okay then, what you need to do is feel into your reiatsu, your method is probably *Leap into the hole* mental mapping right? Now, instead you must search through that darkness, find the light in there and follow it. Once you manage that you should be able to awaken your Kido capabilities." Kurosaki seemed surprised that Yoshirou knew that was his method, but he focused none the less, his reiatsu increasing about him. "No, you can't force this, relax, let yourself fall into the hole." I'm not sure that is such a good idea… Zangetsu suddenly said, surprising Yoshirou, but Kurosaki didn't listen, his reiatsu shrinking about him until it disappeared fully, his focus purely internal.

This isn't good, he's fallen into the hole entirely Zangetsu said, picking up a nearby blade. Prepare yourself Yoshirou Kenshin, until he finds his way out, we shall have an unwanted guest. **Unwanted guest?** Yoshirou thought, when Kurosaki suddenly looked up, a strange smile on his lips. He raised his finger, pointing it at Yoshirou. All Yoshirou could see was that his iris was glowing yellow. _"Like this right? Hado no.04, Byakurai!" _Before Yoshirou could even understand what happened, a bolt fired straight at him, but black rather than blue like the spell should be. Before he could even react, Zangetsu suddenly moved in front of him, slicing down at the beam, splitting it into two parts that passed by him. Prepare yourself! He said as Kurosaki lazily stood up across the way. _"What's your problem Zangetsu? You're getting in the way of my fun!"-_Kurosaki complained in a strange tone. **No, that's not Kurosaki! **Yoshirou realised, leaping to his feet and ripping his zanpakuto from its sheath, **it's too powerful to be him!** _"Calm down, that shot wouldn't have killed him anyway."_ Kurosaki stated, cracking his neck tendons. _"Oh it feels good to be in control!"_ "What in hell are you? Your reiatsu feels like a hollow!"-Yoshirou shouted at him. **Shit, why did Yoruichi and Renji have to leave now? I told them I wouldn't do anything dangerous with him so why did they clear out? Now it's only me, Zangetsu and this thing. **

"_Me? Don't have a name, but if having one will make you feel easier, call me Hichigo, has a nice ring to it I think!"_-the newly dubbed Hichigo called out. Yoshirou looked at the thing before him, asides it's now yellow and black eyes, and the wide grin across its features it still looked identical to Kurosaki. **Of course it would, it is his body!** _"Will you stop panicking, it's annoying."_-Hichigo noted as he stretched a bit, picking up one of the swords. The blade suddenly morphed, becoming the exact replica of Zangetsu's normal shikai form, but inversed. _"Besides, Ichigo knowing about me will just cause problems, the little bitch would lose focus, and he needs this Bankai if he wants to live, killing you will let him know, so it's in both my interest and yours to not go about killing each other."-_Hichigo stated, swinging the new Zanpakuto between his hands a few times. _"Well, I think I have about ten minutes of free time before he finishes what he's up to, want to have some fun while we are waiting? I wouldn't mind putting my teacher through his paces."_-Hichigo asked with a rather scary laugh. _"Zangetsu, keep out of this, I want to have a little freedom before I play horse for that idiot again, I deserve it for simply using his body rather than converting it while he's this open."_

Zangetsu seemed to hesitate for a second, before stepping down, walking away from the two combatants. **Oh great, so I'm fighting somebody I can't afford to kill, what in hell do I do?** Yoshirou thought as he watched his opponent take his shikai by the wrap and start spinning it, laughing to itself. As he watched, the sword picked up speed, spinning faster and faster. **Well, I'm fighting what I think is a hollow in shinigami guise, I can't predict what he might do next. **_"Here we go!"-_Hichigo suddenly declared, literally throwing the shikai at speed straight at Yoshirou. He barely managed to deflect it, the force numbing his arms. However, no sooner than he stopped it, the shikai was once again back and spinning beside pseudo-Kurosaki. **Hell that was fast, I couldn't even take the opening! **Once again, it darted right at him, this time he dodged aside, raising a hand to use a spell. However, he was distracted by the crunch noise from behind him, and by the time he looked forward, Hichigo must have used the anchored Shikai to catapult himself forward, a leg aimed for his face. Stopping the blow with his palm, he tried to counter with a slash, but his foe had tightened a piece of the wrap between his hands, effectively stopping his attack.

Frustrated, Yoshirou aimed to push the hollow back, but another noise from behind him came to his ears, he barely managed to leap in time as the newly freed shikai flew straight at his legs. **Trying not to kill me? That would have been my legs gone if I was a second late! **He tried to retaliate with another slash, but the hollow somersaulted over the blow, pulling the material taught as the shikai swung back for another shot. Forced to block it with his own zanpakuto, he took the full force of Hichigo's kick to his side, sending him catapulting towards the rocks. Recovering in midair, he braced off the rock, back flipping to get some distance. The hollow watched amused, before once again spinning the shikai at his side. **Damn, that technique he uses is too unpredictable! I can counter it if I use my shikai, but I don't want to accidentally kill him either, what can I do?** _"Hey, don't hold back on my account! I just want a good fight here!"-_the pseudo-Kurosaki taunted, waiting for him to make a move.

**Well, my best hope is to restrain him, I'll start off simple**. Raising his arms, he intoned "Bakudo no.04, Hainawa!" **Well, he's giving me time, no need to weaken the spell with no incantation** Yoshirou thought as he watched the rope worm across the gap, wrapping about his foe's body, stopping the murderous movement of the shikai. _"Now that's a little better!"_-Hichigo shouted as he flexed his arms, disintegrating it immediately and leaping back. **Shit he guessed right** Yoshirou thought as he exited his shunpo where the hollow had been. He turned to attack the hollow, but noticed the hollow was pointing his arm at him, the same pose as he had just used _"Bakudo no.04, Hainawa!"_ he announced. Yoshirou barely managed to avoid the black ropes that tried to entangle him. "How in hell is a hollow able to use shinigami magic?"-Yoshirou asked as Hichigo landed a little further away laughing madly.

"_Simple, this body is shinigami in origin, so I can use shinigami abilities as well, why on earth would I be using Zangetsu if I couldn't? Although I am surprised the colour seems different, oh well doesn't matter."_ The hollow laughed. **So I can't use my Kido because he simply assimilates it and uses it against me!** _"Well, it seems we are running out of time anyhow, so I'm gonna finish this fast."_ The hollow declared as it leaped the gap between the two, directly slamming the shikai into Yoshirou's zanpakuto. **Damn that's some power he has!** Yoshirou thought as he started skidding back, having braced his arms. **But I think I can take it** Yoshirou thought as he pulled every one of his muscles taught to stop his sliding, forcing his zanpakuto down and pushing back at the hollow. However, it just laughed "_Too bad, both your hands are on your sword now."_-Hichigo simply stated as he pointed its free hand forward, a finger tip lying on Yoshirou's forehead. _"You're dead. Thanks to that Kido you showed me, your brains would be everywhere by now if I wanted you dead."_

The hollow drew back, leaving a stunned Yoshirou standing there. **Shit, because I didn't use my full power I lost** Yoshirou thought, annoyed at the prospect. _"Well that was good fun, I couldn't go all out against Ichigo in our inner world, thanks for letting me cut loose!"-_Hichigo jeered at him, sitting back on the same rock face he started at. _"Well, since I let you live, you owe me. Just don't tell the idiot about me and we'll call it even, like I said, it's in both our interests he remains ignorant at the moment. This is probably the only time we will ever meet as allies, next time you see me, it will be your last!"-_Hichigo threatened as he settled on the rocks, closing his black and yellow eyes. Nothing happened for a few seconds, before a reiatsu started to fly out around Kurosaki's body. Fortunately this time it was bluish-white colour, and by the looks of things it was the Kido reiatsu that he was hoping Kurosaki would find. His eyes snapped back open, now their normal brown colour and filled with surprise at his success.

"That was strange, I tried doing what you said, but it felt like I was in a world like my own inner world. And the power I found was huge; it's quite close to my own reiatsu again!"-Kurosaki said excitedly. "Yep, and all that took was ten minutes of work. Now do you think this was wasting your time?"-Yoshirou asked, trying to forget everything that had just happened. Zangetsu seemed to glance at him for a few seconds, before turning back to Kurosaki, who was still trying to get a feel of the power he had gained. "Unfortunately, this power is a separate kind than your Zanjutsu, so it doesn't increase your total reiatsu; it is a separate well of power alongside it. However, if you can learn to use one intermittently with the other, then your combat ability effectively doubles anyway. I think that would be rather handy combined with your Bankai increasing you from five to ten times stronger as well."-Yoshirou explained. "Now normally you wouldn't use Kido for about a year after awakening your Kido skills so things don't go wrong, but we don't have that kind of luxury, and I doubt you can injure yourself with the basic spells, it's only the bigger ones like level 30 upwards that can detonate in your face, it was definitely fun watching this one recruit years ago who kept detonating a Shakahou in his face every time he tried to use it. Thinking on it, that kid looked suspiciously alike to Renji…"-Yoshirou mused.

"Now, try pulling on your new energy, channel it into your arm, point your finger and intone "Hado no.04, Byakurai""-Yoshirou ordered. Kurosaki tried to, he tried pulling on his reiatsu, but after seeing his reiatsu was the normal blue colour, he refocused and it changed to a more white shade of blue. He then channelled it along his arm, although the force seemed to be shaking his arm a little bit. **What on earth is he doing that he's making his arm shake?** Yoshirou thought, before Kurosaki intoned "Hado no.04, Byakurai!" A deafening roar filled the area as his spell was launched, a beam of energy firing across the air, burning through boulder after boulder before it drilled through the mountainside, giving Yoshirou a clear view of the air outside. **What the hell?** Yoshirou thought as he looked at the devastation. **I'm sure that spell isn't meant to be that big.** Turning back to Kurosaki, he had fallen flat on his ass from the force of the released spell, breathing heavily from the loss of reiatsu in his body.

**Well, I suppose I have never seen a captain class use Kido for the first time** Yoshirou thought as Kurosaki stood up on wobbly legs. **I shouldn't be surprised by anything that happens out of the ordinary. Soi Fon was a different case, she couldn't control it and lost the reiatsu whenever she tried to use too much. With Kurosaki, it looks like he can't hold it back instead. Still, that hollow of his used a perfect version of the spell, why did he mess up so badly?** "Kurosaki, use your normal reiatsu to stabilise yourself or you're going to pass out!"-Yoshirou warned. Kurosaki nodded wearingly, before his reiatsu rose to normal levels and he started breathing fine again. "What the hell happened? That was awesome, but I nearly got knocked out using it!"-Kurosaki asked, confused at the mess his spell had made. "Simple, I forgot to accommodate your control, you pushed too much reiatsu into the spell, that's why your arm shook so much and you lost so much reiatsu. By the way that was an impressive spell, even if it was the only shot you can use before you run out, can you see the mess that one made?" "Yeah! That was a lot more powerful than yours was-ack!."Kurosaki started to say excitedly, but all that he finished with was a cry of surprise as he received a powerful kick to the gut. "I TOLD YOU NOT TO MAKE A MESS OF THE CAVE YOU IDIOTS!"-Yoruichi yelled furiously. Yoshirou quickly retreated to where the stunned Renji was watching as Kurosaki started to get the shit kicked out of him by the irate woman.

"Holy shit, don't ever forget to remind me not to piss that woman off…"-Renji whispered to him, hoping to god he wouldn't draw the furious womans attention. "Yeah, she has some kind of attachment to this cave, I'm surprised she didn't kill you when you messed up the entrance, pray she doesn't remember."-Yoshirou warned. Renji gulped nervously as the punishing tirade in front of them continued for five minutes. "By the way, what were you guys up to?"-Yoshirou asked as Yoruichi took a break from beating Kurosaki, who resembled nothing more than a ball of pure agony. "Oh I was just meditating with Zabimaru outside, there was some stuff he wanted to talk about. I think Yoruichi went scouting about for a while." At the mention of her name, it seemed Yoruichi had finished exhuming her rage on the pitiful Kurosaki as she walked over to them with her usual grin on her face. "Ah that felt good!" **You feel good beating the shit out of kids? Scary woman.** "Yoshirou, theres a few plans I want to go over with you, do you have a minute?"

Taking Yoshirou aside, Yoruichi stated "The simple fact is this, unless we get a surprising amount of help on our side tomorrow, we are in big trouble. I already know Kenpachi is planning something that will help us. His combat ability is phenomenal among shinigami, they will need to dispatch at least two Captains to contain him, so we have nine captains to think about. Please say you have some reassuring news about them?" Yoshirou considered everything that he had learnt, and started his report. "Well, we do have what I would say is a number of potential allies. Hitsugaya has already resolved to help stop the execution, but I think he will do it in the formal way, which will be too late. However, that means we don't have to worry about him. I think Unohana has something planned, she has been giving me too much leash regarding seeing the Ryoka, I think she knows I aided them, although how I don't know. I mean she even assigned me a guard that she knew was also aiding the Ryoka. Now our best possible allies are Kyoraku and Ukitake, they also have something planned for tomorrow, they plan to use an artefact of some kind I think, although for what reason I don't know."

"Wait an artefact? Describe it." Yoruichi asked. "Well I didn't see it, but it was a large red container with a huge amount of seals on it, with a Shihoin sigil." Yoruichi sighed upon hearing this. "Then they are trying to aid us, but that's futile, there's no way they can unlock the primary seal on the Shihoin Shield, none but the best kido users of our family could unlock that." "Really? If your talking about the sigil lock, I unlocked it for them earlier when they asked."-Yoshirou said. Yoruichi whipped around at massive speed, shock written all over her face. "Impossible! That's…that's… just not possible!" she then suddenly grabbed his face between both hands, surprising Yoshirou as she stared deeply into his eyes. After a few seconds she let go, pacing about and talking to herself-"No, there's no doubt, you're not a Shihoin, it should be impossible for anybody outside of the blood from our clans to unlock that! It's literally a Kekkai Genkai (1), every major family has their own skills past throughout the blood lines, the artefact makers of the Shihoin house are the only ones who can unlock their seals!" Yoshirou was confused by this talk. "Bloodline abilities? The Kuchiki house has none of those." "Yes they do the master tacticians that have been born in that family for every generation. There has never been a weak person in the true Kuchiki bloodline; they are natural born leaders so to say, it is why the Kuchiki family always inherit the Captain role for a squad, there has never been a non Kuchiki who lead the 6th squad."-Yoruichi said off hand as she tried to understand the puzzle before her. "…we don't have time to think on this, when this whole thing is over we can talk more about this. Anyway, if you unlocked the master seal, then they could get the other seals. That means we have a weapon on our side in the upcoming battle, the Shihoin Shield."

"Hold on what's the Shihoin Shield?"-Yoshirou asked. "A weapon designed to destroy other artefacts; it is a last alternative to destroy particular artefacts should they ever run out of control. The Soukyoku is also among one of the artefacts it can effectively destroy. With Kyoraku and Ukitake both providing power for it, it could obliterate the Soukyoku with no trouble, that's how powerful it is. However, if they use that, then Yamamoto will undoubtedly make a move, probably fighting both of them. Now then, that means we still have Unohana, Byakuya and one more captain to deal with, I doubt highly that Unohana will fight, and Ichigo will take care of whoever is left. That leaves you with two choices." "What are those?"-Yoshirou asked. "Either you deal with the final captain, or you aid Kyoraku and Ukitake. As strong as those two are, neither of them is an elemental type, your not exactly a master at it yourself, but you will be the only person that can perhaps stave off Ryuujin Jakka." "No good, Taiyoukousen is light, not an actual effect on the environment, against Ryuujin Jakka, my zanpakuto will be worse than Kyoraku and Ukitake. So that leaves me the final captain."

"Okay, we can hopefully rely on Renji to eliminate any Vice Captains, if he learns his Bankai like he claims he can, then no current Vice Captains should be able to deal with him. I can then take Rukia from the Soukyoku hill, as the fastest person I will be least likely to be caught. Well, I say that's the plan, but anything can happen on the day, don't just follow this, follow wherever you are needed."-Yoruichi finished. "Okay, I also have some men that will be there on the hill with me, since they control the Soukyoku, they can provide some support if necessary."-Yoshirou added. "All right, well it looks like everybody is back to their training, you should probably head off."-Yoruichi said as she watched Zangetsu and Kurosaki clash across the field. "Actually, I need somewhere quiet to do a bit of practice myself."-Yoshirou said. Yoruichi thought for a second, before saying "Well nobody is by the pool at the moment, try there." **A pool? That's perfect for what I'm planning!** Yoshirou thought as he headed towards the pool, completely unaware of the mischievous grin on Yoruichi's face.

(Pool side)

Yoshirou quickly stripped down to his pants before he jumped into the pool. He found much to his delight that the rock pool was actually pretty warm, and just about deep enough for what he wanted to do. He found it odd that the source of the water seemed to be shaped like a chute, but he didn't let it annoy him. **Right, this time I try it with the minimum amount, then work up until I figure whatever my limit is.** As he thought this, he closed his eyes, starting to carefully weave his reiatsu into the air about him. **Now, the minimum amount if always doing nothing, so lets see what happens when I start.** As he concentrated, he started bringing the reiatsu back inwards at a slow pace, bringing the surrounding reishi his reiatsu had captured with it. He was surprised to feel that his wounds on his back were healing. **I thought you couldn't use this to heal yourself?** "Oh, reishi absorption is it then? Tricky stuff, even a bit too much causes a lot of pain."-Yoruichi said from somewhere in front of him. Not losing his focus, he asked "I thought you couldn't use this to speed regeneration, but all the cuts on my back from earlier are healing." "Oh that's not you, the pool has odd regenerating capabilities, that and being warm, it defies belief. Urahara theorised there was some kind of natural phenomenon below this cave which gives the water its unique attributes."-Yoruichi answered.

Yoshirou suddenly felt a splash from something nearby entering the water. "Yoruichi, stop annoying me I'm trying to concentrate here."-Yoshirou said annoyed, unsure as to what the splash had been, but not wanting to lose his focus, he kept his eyes shut. He concentrated on slightly increasing the absorption rate again; his body was starting to feel a little odd from the effect. "I'm guessing you're in the water to try and substitute your breathing? That's like the roughest trick in the book, but brutally effective in the end, it's just that not many people can get the balance right."-Yoruichi said from somewhere now to his right. **For gods' sake, doesn't she get the meaning of leave me alone? **Yoshirou thought exasperatedly. He increased the rate again, but this time felt a slight twinge in his body. Quickly, he reduced the flow, trying to find the optimum balance. His concentration was put off by something hitting his arm, lashing out to shake whatever it was; his hand came into contact with something that most definitely wasn't the side of the pool. **Soft and round?** He thought confused, however before he could open his eyes to find out whatever it was he had grabbed, he was violently forced underwater.

He thought he heard something akin to "Punishment for the pervert" as he tried to break free of the grip. However, he couldn't get a purchase on the ground; his arms were pinned down as were his legs. Panicking, he tried to force the weight off of him.

_Yoshirou relax; remember you're trying to figure out how to do this anyway. Just forget about why you need to breathe, and just draw in the reishi about you._

Hearing his zanpakuto's words, he did just that. He stopped tensing his muscles, focusing again in trying to draw the reishi in about him. After a few seconds he felt the panic alarms in his head stop blaring. **God this water doesn't taste too good. It's a rather odd feeling, drowning with no pain. Not like I know what drowning is like, still why on earth did she try and force me under?**

_Well, while your eyes were shut, you didn't notice that your entire body was glowing, she was probably curious as to why, then you had to go do the stupid thing…_

**Stupid what?**

_Doesn't matter, it's not like you did it on purpose._

**Did what?**

He suddenly felt a light slap on his face. Looking up, he noticed the rather diffused face of Yoruichi above the water. He heard something, he wasn't sure what but it sounded like she was speaking sarcastically. **Well, best go see what she wants then** Yoshirou thought as he rose from the water. He tried to ask what she wanted, but forgot that he still had a lungful of water, so all he managed was a coughing fit as his muscles tried to play their normal instincts again. He heard Yoruichi's laughter from beside him. "Idiot, you're supposed to hold your breath, not actually breathe the water in. Not bad for a first attempt though, what was with the glowing trick?" Yoshirou however was still preoccupied with removing the water from his lungs so he still couldn't reply. "Doesn't matter I suppose, so you planning to brag to Byakuya now?" He finally managed to get his breath back to normal. Finally looking up, he saw Yoruichi…and nearly jumped out of the pool. Not only was she entirely naked again, he had finally realised what he had just grabbed; it was rather obvious with the slight handprint on her breasts. "Well, I never imagined you would be the first one to actually TRY grabbing me out of you two. I always figured Byakuya would have the balls to do it first, but you beat him to it!"-Yoruichi teased him.

Leaping out of the pool at the speed of light, he realised not only had he just done that, but there were a bunch of spectators too. Kurosaki was doing his red face trick again, Zangetsu just looked uninterested, while Renji had a rather strange grin on his face. "Nice one Yoshirou, I never took you to be a bold type!" "Shut it or your front teeth are going to disappear!"-Yoshirou growled at him. However Renji wasn't cowed, grinning only wider. "Well whose getting defensive over scoring? Shouldn't you be celebrating?" Yoshirou simply grabbed his clothes, threw them on at lightning speed and disappeared in a gust of wind, reappearing by the exit ladder**. Bloody hell, that actually worked!** Yoshirou thought, this success stopping his bad mood instantly. Looking up the ladder, he gathered the reishi about himself again and used shunpo to leap up, wondering how high up the ladder he would reach. He was fully surprised to find himself reappearing in the cave, having cleared the ladder entirely. **This is awesome! **Looking over the mountainside, he picked a route that he would never have dared try before, clearing immense chasms in each step as he headed towards Seireitei.

(5 minutes later)

**Five minutes and I'm in central Seireitei already? God I have to think of some way to thank Kyoraku for that little training trick!** Yoshirou practically sung in his head. However, he suddenly felt a little dizzy. **Crap! Seams this trick isn't limitless, this kind of shunpo burns through a fair amount more reiatsu than before.** Quickly getting back to reality, he started to think. **So, what should I do now? I can either turn in early and finish with my plans with my squad, or perhaps just do some more practice. This trick is useful, but unless I learn to control the reiatsu consumption, I'm only going to use it for emergencies. My normal shunpo uses far less reiatsu, but it's less than a third of the distance this one does, and I think I could probably go further if I tried it with this new one. Wait, what is that…? **As he concentrated, he noticed a reiatsu quickly moving to his location. Looking about, he couldn't visually pin point its approach. **What the-?** Out of nowhere, a figure in black appeared, using a small blade to cut at his body. However, Yoshirou had heard his approach before he saw it, using shunpo he vanished, appearing behind his foe. Grabbing his clothes, Yoshirou tossed him to the floor. As he prepared to draw his zanpakuto, he noticed something odd.

The man on the floor was holding his hands up in a surrender gesture, his covered face revealing very little other than the surprise in his eyes. Looking at his uniform, he realised his enemy was wearing an Onmitskido uniform. "I'm very sorry! Please listen to what I have to say!" the man on the floor quickly said. His hand resting on his sword hilt, Yoshirou watched as the man picked himself back up slowly, holding his hands out to show he had dropped his weapon. "My orders were to make a single attack on the 3rd seat of the Kido Corps, Yoshirou Kenshin." "Yea I kinda guessed that, now explain why I shouldn't just kill you now."-Yoshirou replied. "My orders were that if my attack succeeded, I was to retreat immediately. If my attack failed, I was to surrender immediately and relay a message to you!" **What the, a message given only if I pass a test?** "Since you defeated me, the message is as thus. _"We are to meet at the usual place at 7pm sharp."_ I would have delivered this sooner, but you were proving very hard to find." **Usual place? Is it Soi Fon again?** "What does she want with me?"-Yoshirou asked, letting the man pick up his dropped sword. "I do not know, I was told only my mission, and I have carried it out, may I leave now?" "Why are you asking me?" "I have surrendered to you, so only you can decide when I leave" "Just get going…wait what's the time now?" "6:50 I would say by the sundial over there"-the man said, pointing to a dial which was barely in see able range. "Oh crap, better dash then."

(6 minutes later)

**Seam's I'm getting a handle on the reiatsu consumption** Yoshirou thought as he stared up the recognisable rock face. **It's still about five times as much as before, but since I used so little originally, it's still not much of a toll. In terms of trade off, it's about 3-4 times faster for 5 times the reiatsu cost, not too bad all things considered.** Yoshirou picked out his new route, compared to the last path that had about 50 leap points, he now chose 8 points to jump to. Quickly using shunpo, he arrived at the top with a few seconds. Once he was there, he looked about for Soi Fon, guessing as usual she would be waiting there. He wasn't disappointed; she was sitting cross legged on a stump, her zanpakuto laid across her legs. **Jinzen?** Yoshirou thought as he took the opposite stump, waiting for whenever she would finish. **She probably won't be longer then 3 minutes, she's too precise with her time keeping to let me call her late. **As he looked at her, he noticed the large Haori she wore.** Jeez, one day I'm going to have to wear that damn thing as well. I'm not going to be allowed to use the original ceremonial robes since I'm joining the Gotei 13. I wonder what colour mine will be on the inside. **As he looked closer, he saw that the inner lining of her Haori was orange.** Too bright **Yoshirou thought. **I really fancy wearing a sleeveless Haori over a sleeveless shihakshou, kinda like that Kensei used to have years back. Maybe I can just have a totally white Haori, white lining instead of a coloured one-**

His thoughts were quickly snapped back to reality by a light blow to the face. Falling backwards off the stump, he heard Soi Fon say "Don't let your guard down idiot." **Tough love as always** Yoshirou thought as he flipped himself back to his feet. "I take it since you're here you defeated the messenger I sent you?" "Easily"-Yoshirou noted. Nodding, she said "I would have probably gone and mercy killed you myself if something that weak had caught you. You would have no right to have me as your teacher if something that weak got you." "Wait teacher?"-Yoshirou asked. "Your one of my three teachers?" Soi fon nodded curtly again. "Yes, the Sou-Taichou asked me to teach you your Hakuda and Shunpo properly, since you still seem to be using the basics. I accepted since I still owe you for your help." Shrugging off her Haori, and walking clear of the stumps, she said "With that in mind, I managed to finish my technique earlier; I'll show it to you." **Ah, that shunko Yoruichi showed me **Yoshirou thought.

After reaching the clear area, Soi Fon seemed to concentrate for a second. Suddenly the air all about the two picked up into a tornado about her, localising on her arm and funnelling about again and again. **Wow, that's impressive** Yoshirou thought. **Yoruichi's own was focused across her whole body, but this seems entirely poured into her arm. It's probably not as effective as Yoruichi's but she seems to be far more in control of it, Yoruichi's looked a bit out of control.** "That is really impressive, you focused all the energy about your sword arm, increasing its power and speed right? With your shikai, that is an incredibly dangerous ability." Soi Fon smirked slightly at his praise. "I think it still isn't perfect myself, I wanted to have my entire body empowered by it, but this seems to fit my style better."-she said as she turned off her power. "Now, you have ten minutes to copy it." "Huh?"-Yoshirou asked, surprised by her sudden statement. "I wish to test it out for a little while, so you're going to be a sparring partner. Getting this done took me some time since I was new to Kido, but you've mastered Kido and I think I've beaten enough Hakuda into you that you should be able to use both effectively. If I'm not overestimating you, you should be able to use it much faster than me."

**Oh crap, I already learnt this skill, what should I do? Fake that I can't do it?**

_No, you used it pretty much immediately with no guidance from Yoruichi, don't disappoint, just use it._

**If you're sure** Yoshirou thought as he undid the top half of his robes, struggling with the extra baggy material. "I'm sure that's not your normal robes, those kind of baggy things will get in the way of Hakuda." Soi Fon noted, also noting his well defined muscles with it. Yoshirou didn't notice her glances though, instead he concentrated. Once again he felt the rush of energy as he was enveloped in a golden glow, jagged spikes of light stabbing out all about him. Carefully localising the energy to remain at his torso and arms only, he looked up at Soi Fon. However, he was surprised at her expression, it was a weird mix of satisfaction and jealousy. **Oh crap, I forgot my one is practically perfect already** Yoshirou chided himself. **Of course I'm going to annoy her with it.** "Glad you didn't disappoint." Soi Fon stated, trying to hide her annoyance that he had managed it so easily. Once again activating her own shunko, she prepared to attack. "Wait Soi Fon! I don't think these techniques are wise to use right now, I don't have total control yet, and I don't fancy having any holes in me from the amount of power you have stored in that arm."-Yoshirou quickly stated, as he watched his reiatsu continue to devastate the area about him. Soi Fon also seemed to notice this as she sighed in irritation, turning off her technique.

"Perhaps your right, this technique is for battle only, not sparring." She said, turning back towards the mountain view. Yoshirou also turned off his shunkou as he watched Soi Fon, her frame blocking the sunlight in his direction. "By the way, how many people have been going on about our meetings?" "Kyoraku was being an ass on me, he spread a rumour that I was going out with you."-Yoshirou said irritably. "Well it beats the last rumour he said, that I was going with my Vice-Captain, I nearly killed him when he suggested that, at least you have some muscles rather than nothing but fat."-Soi Fon simply said. **Wait, was that a compliment**? Yoshirou wondered, but then remembered what her Vice Captain looked like. **No, just about anybody could probably beat that guy. **"Well, have you been practicing your shunpo then?"-Soi Fon suddenly asked. "Yep, I think I've gotten a bit better at it." Yoshirou answered. "Well then, come over here." Soi Fon said as she walked to the mountain edge. Curious, Yoshirou walked over. "This time its five seconds to reach the bottom, ready?"-she asked. "Oh, another time challenge, okay then." Yoshirou said as he concentrated hard on his new technique.** I just have to do as much distance in one step, then move from there. **"Go." Yoshirou quickly put as much reiatsu into his first step as he dared, the air distorting with his move.** Okay, so when I finish the step I-**

Soi Fon was laughing, seemingly unable to stop when Yoshirou managed to wake himself back up. Realising he had cracked a few ribs; he pushed himself up from the crater he had made in the ground. "I… didn't think… you would improve… enough to blast yourself… into the ground in one step!" she tried to say between rushed breaths. "Yea very funny *owch!*"-Yoshirou said as he tried to overcome the pain in his chest. Quickly drawing on his reserves, he put a hand to his chest and concentrated, the pain inside lessened as he quickly sealed the cracks in his ribs "Thank god I only cracked them, I can't heal clean breaks that easily"-Yoshirou said. Soi Fon just about managed to stop her laughing, offering a hand to help him up. "I don't think I've laughed like that in a very long time, Omaeda is just stupid rather than hilarious, thanks for that."-Soi Fon said as she helped Yoshirou up. "Well, you…cleared lets say, the mountain in one step, that's close to 200 metres, even if that was your maximum, that's quite impressive in so little time, I think your close enough to a level where you can start learning some new techniques. Perhaps you can start with some of the Way of Omitsu techniques." "Way of Omitsu?" Yoshirou asked, now curious, he had never heard of these techniques. "Yes, normally techniques taught to the Onmitskido, however since I am now your teacher, I might make an exception and teach you some of them, however not tonight, you probably need to prepare for tomorrow."

She walked away a little, enjoying the last of the sunshine as the sun disappeared. "Yeah, tomorrow…"-Yoshirou said quietly. Picking up on his manner, Soi Fon turned to look at him a frown on her face. "You may not like having to do this, but it is our orders, and you will follow them." "Yeah, but I still think its wrong…"-Yoshirou said. "There's also a possibility something may be happening that we don't know or comprehend, behind the scenes." "Do you have any evidence for these accusations?"-Soi Fon asked. "No, but I know there is something going on-." "Yoshirou Kenshin"-Soi Fon interrupted him sounding like she was giving an official declaration-"I will say this now. Out of respects for you as both a pupil and a person I respect, I shall forget what you have just said. However, I tell you now. If anybody attempts to do something at the execution tomorrow, I shall kill them without mercy, as are my orders. No matter who they are, I will follow my orders and take their lives." Turning away, she said hesitantly-"Don't waste your life pursuing something that is already determined as against you, this is said as a person who cares for your wellbeing, idiot or not." With this she disappeared.

***Sigh* I was hoping I might be able to change her mind.**

_Are you an idiot? Trying to convince Soi Fon to turn on her orders? You're extremely lucky she didn't take you in for insubordination and planned treason!_

**I know, I know already! I just didn't want to have to face her tomorrow; I'd rather she fought with me than against me, why couldn't she just do it this once…**

_Yoshirou…_

Without saying anything more, Yoshirou vanished from the area, leaving nothing but the wind blowing in the trees behind him.

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**Well, that's a wrap. Next chapter begins on the morning of the execution! I am probably not going to change what happens at the execution, besides Yoshirous presence. I know Yoruichi's plan was interesting here, but things are probably going to play out as they did in the canon storyline until it comes to the Aizeny bit. Anyway, as always review and suscribe if you can!**

**P.S. Sorry for the OOC in Soi Fon here, i'm trying to show her as changing slightly to accomodate the O.C., but this is going to be difficult once I have to throw Yoruichi in there as well -.-, sorry for the people who will want to see lesbion humour between these two, I will probably eliminate it in favour of her "pet project" of being a teacher herself. There is one more thing, I am undecided about who the final teacher will be. I have two candidates, but i'm unsure which one to go for, but it will probably not surprise those who see them, since Soi Fon is the Hakuda/Hoho teacher, Unohana is the healing arts teacher and the Kido teacher has already refused, there is only one catagory left, Zanjutsu.**


	21. Chapter 21 Execution day Part 1

**Chapter done! This is finally starting the events of the execution. This was actually done twice, as I finished the story once, then realised a massive continuality mistake and had to redo it. I'll tell you what it was in the end. Anyway read and enjoy!**

* * *

**Well, here it begins…**Yoshirou thought as he stared blankly at the ceiling of his room**. I can't believe how hectic my life has become, what became of all my freedom? I'm tied down by a million self imposed obligations, the need to help the weak, the desire to have revenge for Aizen, the need to protect my own squad. I feel like everything is just pulling me in different directions, and if everything goes wrong today, then all that I'm supposed to protect will be lost…**

_It's too late to think that way, you chose your path, all you can do is look forward and run until you reach its end. You can change all of the things that are to come today, just remember what is right and follow your instincts._

**Follow my instincts? They all scream sleep in and miss the execution.**

_Lazy ass_

Like always Yoshirou finished, a small smile now back on his face. Getting up from his bed, he hunted throughout his closet for some robes to wear. He quickly put them on before reaching for his zanpakuto**. Ah it feels good to be back in actual fitting robes, Kenpachi's were far too baggy on me, gotta remember to drop them by his squad some time. **Putting his zanpakuto to his belt, he wondered whether he should put on the ceremonial robes too, but decided against it, they would only restrict his movements. As he went for the door, he had a thought for a second. Quickly grabbing his sleeves, he tore them off. **Yeah, a sleeveless shihakusho does look good on me** he thought as he quickly looked in the mirror. **I think this will do with all my robes**

_A Kido user in a sleeveless shihakusho? That's going to be confusing._

**Whatever, it looks cool and it suits me, since I use all combat types the less restraining my clothes are the better. Call it the new look for the new me.**

Walking out of his room, he quickly went to the mess hall. It seemed empty asides for the gathered eleven for this day's work. Kira walked over to quickly talk to him. "Taichou, all the men here are the guys Tansho and Haneko chose for today, as well as they themselves. They are all aware of the situation and have received their instructions as far as they are concerned. They are just waiting for any particulars from yourself before they leave." Sighing to himself, Yoshirou prepared to speak to his men. "All right the plan is simple, whatever happens today, just follow the instructions, do not attempt to engage anyone, this could easily become a fight of proportions that you cannot perceive. All you are required to do is activate the Soukyoku as normal. If you can delay proceedings, then try to do so for as long as possible, once the Soukyoku is active, you are to retreat since your duty is finished. From there, you are to split into pairs and scout the nearby area's leading to the Soukyoku hill. If any suspicious activity is seen, use a spell into the air to communicate the urgency, Okasen for warnings of movement, Soukatsui for any imperative information. Imperative information includes the movements of the captain Ichimaru Gin and any who try to impede the retreat of the Ryoka."

"Now this is the final warning, no matter what happens you are not to engage unless there is no other option, and nobody is to assist me, I'm sorry to say it this way but you will only be a liability if you get in the middle of a Captain fight to try and help me. Any important reports are to be given to Haneko and Tansho, they are your squad leaders for now until I am able to resume command. Now everybody gear up, today's mission is perhaps the riskiest and most imperative you will ever receive, we are not just fighting to save the girl, but to find whatever blight is at the centre of all this and remove it from Soul Society! Now get going, or so help me I will kick each and every one of your asses if you are even a minute late!" With a load cheer at the joke ending, everybody started to file out, following Tansho and Haneko, until Yoshirou was left alone with Kira. "Ah Kira, one warning for you now, don't talk to me during the execution, I may have to move very fast, and I can't stop to explain everything to you. Also no matter what happens, you follow any and all orders I give you today, if I tell you to fight, you fight, if I tell you to run, run like hell, got it?" "O-Okay Taichou."-Kira responded nervously. "Relax; you just got to trust that we can do this, alright?" Kira just nodded. **Damn she's scared** Yoshirou realised as they started to walk out. **I don't think I can rely on her help today; I'm going to have to find a way to make sure she doesn't fight. Wait a second; I'm going to have to walk to Soukyoku? Damn that's going to take forever!**

(2 hours later)

Yoshirou was nearly fully up the stairs to the execution stands, an exhausted Kira following him when his worst fears were confirmed. He had sensed multiple movements throughout Soul Society as he had walked with Kira, but fearing pulling her into the combat he had decided not to join them. The first one had been pretty obvious, after all Kenpachi had actually stopped to ask him where the 4th division was earlier, Yoshirou had also noticed the presence of two people on his back rather than the usual one. He had told them where to go, and that was that, he nearly got knocked down by the hurricane force of the charging captain. As they continued, he started to sense multiple weak signatures disappear one after the other, being defeated by a much stronger one, Renji. However, his worst fears were confirmed when Byakuya seemed to engage him. That was when Yoshirou was at the bottom of the stairs. By the time he hit halfway, his worst fears won, Renji was defeated. For a moment he had hope after he felt the huge surge in Renji's reiatsu, it seemed he had indeed succeeded at gaining his Bankai, but Byakuya overshadowed that with his own Bankai, leading towards the almost total vanishing of Renji's reiatsu. **But I can feel it, he's still alive at least, but for how long I don't know he feels like he is in total agony, Byakuya must have really badly injured him. Damn, that's one less man on our side, I didn't expect much of Renji, but he would have at least been useful.**

Lost in his thoughts, he finally finished ascending the steps, and started to walk through the dead trees towards the stands. **Everybody else got here ahead of me with shunpo, I was the only one who walked since I had to accompany Kira**. Sensing ahead of him, he started to determine just who was at the executions. **three Captains, all with their respective Vice Captains, another Vice Captain and my own men are preparing themselves near the Soukyoku. The first one is the Sou-Taichou, then its Kyoraku.** However, he felt a shiver of apprehension when he recognised the last captain. **Shit, I was hoping she would be one of the two who had to fight Kenpachi… if she's here; it means that Tosen and Komamura are after Kenpachi. Fuck, I would rather have taken either of those two on than her… Well, there's nothing I can do about it now, but where is Ukitake? **Throwing his senses out over Seireitei, he soon found the Captain**. …He is still in his squad! If he doesn't get here soon then everything is going to go wrong, shit!**

_Calm down, we just do what we can, now put a normal look on your face and calm down, we are about to clear the trees._

Doing just that, Yoshirou looked forward as the last of the dead trees past them. Just like he expected, he could see the enormous Soukyoku stands ahead of him, with the Soukyoku halberd restrained to the ground nearby. The Soukyoku was indeed a magnificent sight to behold, magnificent as equally as it was terrifying. A giant halberd that reached to the sky, towering even higher than the stands themselves, the blade head larger than even Yoshirou. The base of the halberd was held down by multiple wound ropes, although Yoshirou knew these were extremely strong seals that locked and restrained the weapons power into a dormant state. Without the exact methods that were held only by the Kido Corps, it was entirely impossible to unlock or destroy the seal ropes; they held more power to them than the Soukyoku itself, although once again this was another secret that only the Kido Corps knew, everybody else assumed them just ropes to hold the halberd in place.

**Wait, it's not fully unknown** Yoshirou realised. **If somebody is indeed after Soukyoku, then they must know as well, else they would have just taken it without this whole execution thing.** As he looked further forward, he could see the stands and the Sou Taichou standing before them. And standing on the base of the stands, four connecters tying her to her guards, was the small form of the condemned girl, Rukia Kuchiki. As Yoshirou looked at her, he noticed her expression was a rather strange one, he couldn't tell if it was melancholy or resignation. **Probably a bit of both** Yoshirou thought **I sure wouldn't be able to keep such a face if I knew I was about to die. **Walking forward, indicating that Kira should join the other Vice Captains, he first went over to Tansho and Haneko, who were arranging the men about the eight pegs that held the Soukyoku down. "You guy's all ready?" Yoshirou asked. "As they ever will be, one of them had some trouble memorising the hand seals needed for this, but everything's in place."-Haneko answered. Nodding and leaning closer, he asked "What can you guys do then?" Tansho replied quietly "We have added two new seals to the incantation, it won't do much but it may buy us an extra two minutes until the Soukyoku is able to be used, that's about the best we can do without being noticed, any extra seals and the change in reiatsu will be visibly noticed." "Every minute will be needed; we need to delay until either Kurosaki gets here, or more importantly Ukitake. If I can go unnoticed, I can suppress the Soukyoku to help Kurosaki against it, but I can't do it for long. If he doesn't best it, or Ukitake arrive in time, I will run out of reiatsu, and it will destroy Kurosaki for sure."-Yoshirou explained. They both nodded in agreement, before returning to the task of organising their team.

Turning away from his men, Yoshirou walked over the assembled line of shinigami. Immediately, he noticed that although Soi Fon seemed to be acting non-caring, her whole posture showed her as ready to attack at any second. **Shit, another warning** Yoshirou thought. **I'm the only person who's fought with her enough to notice that kind of thing. **As he took his place beside Isane, he quietly asked "Wheres Unohana at?" "She is doing a second examination on Aizen, she is trying to find any hints as to who killed him. She will come here before the execution begins."-Isane quietly answered. "I shall begin the execution now."-Yamamoto said, having noticed the arrival of Yoshirou, and decided that there were enough witnesses for now. Beside Isane and Yoshirou, Soi Fon started speaking to her Vice Captain. "The attendance is pretty bad." "Huh?"-the big man said, not expecting to be talked to. "The only Captains and Vice Captains that have gathered are the Sou-Taichou's 1st Squad, the 8th squad and us. The 5th 11th and 12th couldn't help it if they can't come. But what are the others doing? Even the 4th Squads Unohana hasn't come…" however, before she could finish her thoughts, another person joined them upon the hill.

**Byakuya…** Yoshirou thought as he watched the Captain walk over to them. Turning to see Rukia, Yoshirou noticed that she was also staring at the man, a quiet "Nii-sama…" escaping from her. However, Byakuya ignored this entirely, walking over and standing beside Yoshirou. Yoshirou considered talking to him, but decided against it, he had nothing to say to Byakuya that wouldn't devolve into an argument, and he needed his focus here. As he considered this, the Sou-Taichou started talking to Rukia. "Kuchiki Rukia, do you have anything you would like to say?" She looked down, before saying "Yes, I have one thing to ask…" However, whatever she said, she asked quietly, perhaps not wanting the others to hear. **I wonder what she could want? **Yoshirou wondered. After she finished, the Sou Taichou nodded, indicating towards the Soukyoku. Understanding the signal, Haneko and Tansho started getting the men to start their work. Immediately, the entire soukyoku was covered with reiatsu as the eight men awakened the Soukyoku's first stage.

Yoshirou tried using his senses again, desperate to find the help he needed. Simultaneously he noticed two things. Ukitake's reiatsu had jumped. **No, it hasn't…there's a secondary signature beside him distorting my senses! He managed to get it unlocked!** Yoshirou realised, however he also realised it was too late**. He's too far away; he won't get here for another ten minutes!** Worried, he tried searching for a different signature, and he picked up on it immediately. It didn't take too much work, it was literally charging across Seireitei at blazing speed. **Kurosaki! Seam's he managed to finish his training, and more, that's shunpo speed he's going at! He's still five minutes away though; will we be able to delay that long or not? **Returning to his senses, Yoshirou heard the Sou Taichou continue. "Very well, just as you asked, I shall send the Ryoka back unharmed the dawn after your execution." Rukia smiled slightly in gratification. "Thank you very much."** Even as she is going to her death, she thinks' of others…**Yoshirou thought. Beside him, he heard Isane note "How cruel, he doesn't plan on sending them back alive." Yoshirou jumped slightly as he noticed that beside her, Unohana had appeared out of nowhere. "It isn't cruel Isane, its mercy." "Unohana-Taichou?"-Isane asked, curious as to what she meant. "If it is an unavoidable death, then at least let her have no hesitations, no matter how small they may be."

As she said that, the Kido Corps men arrayed themselves about the Soukyoku, and started to unlock the seals. As Yoshirou watched, he immediately noticed the additional seals the twins had warned him of. **Restriction seals mixed in with the unlocking sequence? But with only eight men, that won't work for long, and they can't use suppression seals due to the reiatsu warping effect.** As he thought this, Unohana finished saying "Even if it is something small, let her be in piece." The Sou Taichou announced "Release Soukyoku!" As he said this, the men started releasing the seals as they were ordered, although they dispersed the reiatsu carefully to slow the process, they still couldn't stop it. Before them, the ropes slowly snapped, unwinding about the Soukyoku slowly, before they ran out, shooting away from the soukyoku and taking their true forms, spikes of an unknown material that drilled into the earth below. **Shit, Kurosaki is still a distance away.** Yoshirou thought, turning back to the stands. Some time between while he was watching the Soukyoku release and turning back, the guards had removed the connecters from Rukia's neck, stepping back from the stands. As he watched, she quietly said "Thank you, nii-sama…" **What the hell are you thanking that heartless bastard for?** Yoshirou thought to himself. As he watched, the stands activated before him, three blocks raising from the ground to Rukia's arm and leg height. Her limbs were magnetised to the blocks as they slowly rose up, bring her with them.

**Shit, now that's two problems** Yoshirou realised. **She's in mid air, thanks to the walls about Seireitei, nobody can stand on air, this just became even more difficult.** "Nanao-chan, don't look so pained, you'll make me sad too."-Kyoraku said from somewhere close by. "I'm not making this face because it's painful…"-the woman responded. Suddenly beside them, the Sokyoku activated. Shit, that was faster than I thought it would be Yoshirou thought. Now we have only two minutes before it's ready to strike. As he watched, oblivious to the cries of surprise and exclamations from the people about him, he saw the halbard slowly rise from the ground, fiery reiatsu spilling out everywhere, thickening to become a corporeal form. The Sokyoku rose higher, changing form into a massive bird of fire. "Ki-Kou-Ou."-Yamamoto said, naming the creature before them. "He is the true form of Sokyoku halbard, the final enforcer of extreme punishment. When he pierces through a criminal, the sentence will end."

Throwing his senses out despratley, Yoshirou sensed that Kurosaki was still only just getting close to the Soukyoku hill. **He's too late** Yoshirou realised. **He can't climb all the stairs up here in time.** Before him, the Soukyoku started to reach it's full power. **Shit, what do I do? Ukitake is too late, Kurosaki won't make it in…wait…** re-throwing his senses out in confusion, he realised something. **…he's flying? He's ascending directly up the hill instead of going by the stairs!** Realising there was still hope left, he also realised that it would be extremely close, and from what he could judge, Kurosaki might still be a second too slow.

**Taiyou, we are going to start suppressing it now!** Yoshirou decided as the Soukyoku finally reached it's full power, drawing back slightly to begin it's attack. **We still need a few more seconds to slow it down when it charges, I'll pull on as much reiatsu as possible, you just make sure none of it reaches the Captains, focus it all on the Sokyoku!** Yoshirou thought as he pulled on as much of his reiatsu as he dared. Taiyou did exactly as she was asked, redirecting the reiatsu away from the surrounding Captains and up to the Sokyoku. The Sokyoku seemed to react to the foreign reiatsu about it, and started it's approach towards its target, although it was slowed considerably by the reiatsu bogging down it's movements. Out of the side of his eyes, Yoshirou saw as a shadow seemed to leap above the side of the hill, charging at all speed straight for the Sokyoku, interposing itself between the massive bird and it's target. **Let's hope I slowed it enough to not go straight through him** Yoshirou watched as bird and shadow clashed.

As he looked up, he saw that the giant phoenix had indeed been halted, his strength and Kurosaki's own had been enough to halt it's charge. All around him, he heard cries of surprise at the view above him. As he watched, he could see that Kurosaki was talking to Rukia in the air above them. **Hurry it up, don't you realise I can't keep this up for long? **Yoshirou thought as he felt his reiatsu continue to empty from his body. The first one to speak was Soi Fon. "I-Impossible! Did he stop it? He was able to stop the Soukyoku Halberd that has the explosive power of over one million zanpakuto with only one zanpakuto! Just what is he!" **I'm so glad she doesn't realise I'm suppressing it with him** Yoshirou thought **she'd kill me in an instant if she realised.** He noticed that Yamamoto, Byakuya and Unohana had all managed to keep their calm, although Unohana had glanced at him for a second. **Nothing I can do about it if she noticed, just hope she keeps quiet.** Beside him, he heard Kyoraku say "Nanao-chan, is this boy possibly the one that the Ryoka guy mentioned?" "Yes, his physical characteristics also match the reports sent in by the different squads."-his Vice captain answered. Suddenly putting a hand on Yoshirou's shoulder lightly, nearly making him lose his focus, Kyoraku said quietly-"I see… it seems we weren't the ones who made it in time, eh Yoshirou-kun?"

As Yoshirou was distracted by this, he suddenly felt his reiatsu disrupted. Losing control of his suppression attempt, he watched as the Soukyoku flew back, determined to make a second charge. Concentrating to start his suppression again, Yoshirou was interrupted by Taiyou

_Wait, theres no need to do that._

As he listened to her, he watched as Kurosaki leapt towards his enemy, so sure that he would be able to repeat the same success. However, a massive long rope flew into the sky, heading straight for the Soukyoku, as it reached the enemy, it wrapped twice about it, before flying for the ground. Surprised, Yoshirou felt a slight gust of wind as behind him Kyoraku leapt back. Turning around, Yoshirou watched as he landed right beside none other than Ukitake, putting a hand on the peg that the rope was attached to, his Vice Captain landing beside him. "Hey pretty boy, you really made us wait."-Kyouraku said, tipping his sakkat up to get a clear view of Ukitake. Behind him, Yoshirou heard Isane say "Kyoraku-taichou!" in surprise. Ukitake didn't notice, apologising to Kyoraku-"Sorry, it took a while to finish releasing, but…" and with this he swung up an object from behind him, slamming it infront of him "…I can do it with this!" **The Shihoin Shield!** Yoshirou realised. **So that's what the legendary artefact destroyer looks like.** "Stop them! They are going to destroy the Soukyoku!"-Soi Fon shouted out, but her Vice Captain just looked in shock, asking-"You want me to…?"

But it was too late; Kyoraku and Ukitake simultaneously drew their zanpakuto, stabbing them into the openings on the Shihoin Shield. As he watched, Yoshirou saw the rope suddenly burn with reiatsu, continuing along the rope until it reached the Soukyoku. It was over in a second, the Soukyoku literally exploded, raining fiery reiatsu and molten chunks of metal down on the assembled crowd, who all tried to dodge the fire, the guards by the Sokyoku especially hit, many of them fell under the rain. Yoshirou ignored the flying debris, instead focusing on Kurosaki. As he watched, Kurosaki flew to the top of the stands, spinning his zanpakuto about it's wrap. **That looks alike to what that hollow kept doing **Yoshirou recognised.** But what does he plan to do now?** As he watched, he suddenly realised exactly what it was **…ah that sneaky bastard, I don't believe he's learnt to use it like that.** As he watched, Kurosaki stabbed downwards into the stand. Just like Yoshirou expected, the stands shone with the force of his reiatsu, but it was prominently the blue white reiatsu that he remembered from their training. **He's using all of his kido reiatsu up to do this, so he can keep his normal reiatsu to fight out of here** Yoshirou thought as he watched the oddly distorted spell that he had taught Kurosaki blast out from where his shikai was, blasting through the stands and into the mountainside below, obliterating everything in it's path with it's destruction.

Once the dust settled, even Yoshirou was surprised by the results. **Damn, I never thought that magic would be this powerful…** The stand was completely obliterated, Kurosaki standing on a little part that was left, holding Rukia under his arm. "Th-The Soukyoku stands…"-Isane tried to say, but not able to continue. "He broke them!" Kotsubaki finished for her. Looking about him, Yoshirou realised everybody was looking up at him, with various degrees of shock on their face. The only ones with a straight face on them seemed to be Byakuya and the Sou Taichou himself. "Wh-Whats with that guy?" Omaeda said, perhaps in fear of what he just saw. However, Yoshirou suddenly felt multiple drops in reiatsu behind him. Looking back, he watched as Tansho fell to the floor, defeated by Renji who was stumbling along, falling to one knee. **Renji? He's healed?** Yoshirou wandered, but then also thought how on earth he could have defeated his men that injured. Sensing their reiatsu again, he realised that all of his men were actually suppressing their reiatsu and playing possum. **Good idea** Yoshirou thought, as he heard Kurosaki shouting down from the stands behind him.

"So you've come, Renji?"-Kurosaki shouted down. A second voice, presumably Rukia's called out to him. Renji picked himself up from the ground "Rukia!" he shouted back. "Thank goodness your still alive, Renji!"-Rukia happily shouted back. **A lot more cheery now she's being saved** Yoshirou thought, slightly amused as he and the Captains watched this exchange. "I thought that you'd come."-Kurosaki noted. "Of course. If I didn't come, who would save Rukia?"-Renji asked, a grin forming on his face. However, it suddenly faltered for a minute in confusion at whatever he saw. Turning back to the stands, Yoshirou saw that Kurosaki had raised Rukia up above his shoulder. "Hey Ichigo, what are you going to do?"-Rukia asked in shock and fear. "Wait, hey! You aren't planning to…"-Renji started to say. **Oh yes I think he is **Yoshirou said, unable to hide the smile that formed on his face from the prospect of what Kurosaki was about to do. His guess proved correct, as Kurosaki threw her like a missile, shouting "Take her!" "YOU IDIOT!"-Renji shouted back while Rukia flew through the air, screaming herself. Yoshirou winced as he saw the two collide, Renji sent flying by the force of the throw. Rukia lifted herself free first, screaming back "IDIOT! ICHIGO YOU BASTARD!" followed quickly by Renji jumping up, shouting "What would you do if I dropped her! You jerk!" "Take her!" Renji looked back up in confusion at Kurosaki's words. "Don't just sit there, hurry up and take her away! That's your job. Don't let go of her, even if you die!"

Renji seemed to accept this order, picking up Rukia in his arms, and running for the stairs to get off the hill. Beside Yoshirou, Omaeda said in shock "A-Abarai…" "Why are you so surprised, fool! Chase them! All Vice Captains after them!"-Soi Fon shouted. **Wait this is perfect** Yoshirou realised **Kira can go with them, it will get her away from here safely.** "Kira, you heard Soi Fon, get going."-Yoshirou said to his silent companion. "Eh? B-But-" "No buts', remember you follow any orders I give you" Yoshirou reminded her. She still hesitated for a second, but eventually joined the chase with the other three Vice Captains. Beside him, he heard Soi Fon seemingly sigh in relief, her agressive posture relaxing slightly. "Seam's you did listen."-she quietly said off hand to him, before turning her attention back to the running Vice Captains. **Well, if it stops you from killing me, then this is fine** Yoshirou thought, not daring to believe just how well thing's were going. However, he then watched as Kurosaki suddenly appeared before the pursuers**. Crap, I never warned him about Kira** Yoshirou realised as he watched the stand off.

As he watched, he saw Kurosaki turn his blade upside down, sinking it into the dirt. **Thank god, he's not going to fight them seriously.** It seemed Omaeda had forgotten just what Kurosaki did a few seconds ago, as he arrogantly shouted "Out of the way!" Kurosaki simply looked at him with a slightly intimidating scowl. "Run, Itegumo!"-Isane shouted, her zanpakuto creating two prongs about itself. "Pierce, Gonryomaru!"-Chojiro called out, his zanpakuto transforming into a rapier. "Crush them, Gegetsubari!"-Omaeda shouted, his zanpakuto strangely transforming into a ball and chain. Kira just froze, unsure as to what to do. Kurosaki however, quickly punched forward, shattering Omaeda's zanpakuto and smashing him in the gut. The three remaining people just stared dumbfounded. Chojiro reacted first, quickly stabbing forward with his shikai, however Kurosaki moved around the blow, smashing his palm into Chojiro's face. Seemingly noticing Kira's reluctance, he spun about the rising body of Chojiro, chopping his hand down on the back of her neck, knocking her out immediately, before finally running the final gap, smashing his palm into Isane's chest, sending her flying. **Damn, well at least he only knocked her out rather than properly hitting her like he did the rest** Yoshirou thought, although he showed a pained grimace on his face as he watched Kira fall to the ground.

Yoshirou then felt a gust of wind as something charged past him at a surprising speed, drawing it's zanpakuto as it ran. Across the way, Kurosaki seemed to notice this charge, ripping his own zanpakuto out of the ground to meet it. They clashed, revealing the now slowed form of Byakuya as being the attacker. Kurosaki stopped his blow entirely. "Why?"-Byakuya asked. "Why are you continually trying to save Rukia?" There was a pause, before Kurosaki said "I want to ask, your Rukia's big brother right? Why don't you save her?" Byakuya replied calmly-"A pointless question. Even if you knew the answer, it would be quite impossible for you to understand. It seam's our discussion is useless, here I go." With saying this, Byakuya's reiatsu sky rocketed, forcing Kurosaki's sword slowly downwards. However, Kurosaki smirked, before shouting out as he forced Byakuya's sword back and down, trying to strike at him again. The resulting clash knocked both men back a bit, skidding to recover. "There is only one path for me to take now. Kurosaki Ichigo, I will kill you. Rukia will go through this execution again, this time by my own hand."-Byakuya stated. This shocked Yoshirou **I thought he just wanted to follow the law, but he seems to actually desire her death? Bloody hell, what made him become this twisted?** "I won't let you. That's why I came." Kurosaki replied, releasing the catch on his cloak, letting it fly away. **Wow, talk about disregard for rare artefacts, I think that's a Tentoken, judging from how he was flying earlier.** As he watched, the two men charged at each other, using shunpo before clashing once again, lost in the clouds of dust.

**Well, everything is going okay so far** Yoshirou thought as he started to go towards his men, still doing the play dead trick. Behind him, he heard Kiyone shout "Nee-san", obviously running over to the downed Vice Captain. "Wait, Kiyone!"-Kotsubaki said, before Yoshirou was surprised by what he heard next, a loud cry of pain. Turning back, he watched as Kotsubaki fell out of the sky nearby him. Looking towards where he had first heard him shout, he saw Soi Fon standing there, facing Kiyone. **Shit.** "Wait, Soi Fon!"-Ukitake shouted, running to try and stop the woman. However, his attempts were cut short by a load crunching noise as Yamamoto's staff dug into the ground at his feet. "Don't move!"-Yamamoto ordered. Everybody on the hilltop asides the battling pair turned to see this confrontation. "Genryuusai-dono!"-Ukitake said in surprise. "The one who ran away with the criminal is a Vice-Captain. If we insert a replacement for him, it will work. Afterwards, we can take our time catching him. However, you are the ones I cannot forgive. As Captains you have done things which you should not have done. You are not ignorant of what that means." The whole area seemed to fall quiet at the authority in the Sou Taichous voice, everybody was both raptly entranced and fearful of what this meant. Kiyone, fearing for her captain, tried to run past Soi Fon, shouting "Captain, it's dangerous-!" "Stay back!"-Ukitake ordered back at her, freezing the girl in her tracks. As Yoshirou watched them, he saw Ukitake sway suddenly before returning his gaze to Yamamoto.

However, Kyoraku's eyes were on Yoshirou's. He suddenly winked at him, before moving suddenly, reappearing at Ukitake's shoulder. "All right then, there's no choice! Shall we run away for the time being, Ukitake?"-Kyoraku announced in a sing song voice, before disappearing along with Ukitake. The surprised Vice Captain disappeared also, following her Captain. Yamamoto seemed to stay in place for a few seconds, before vanishing himself. **Shit… and here I thought I would get out of this perfectly, now what do I do?** Yoshirou thought quickly as Soi Fon's attention returned to her target. **I can just ignore her and get on with my mission, or I can try and intervene. Either way, I am going to be haunted by my decision I think, just what do I do?**

_Just follow whichever path you think is the right one, you can leave her there to protect many more, or you can risk saving her and risk the many more. It's all down to who you want to protect, will you play it safe and save the many? Or risk everything to save them all?_

**Shit, when you put it that way, there can only be one answer… "**Taichou…" Kiyone said to herself quietly. "I wonder how much longer you intend to remain an observer."-Soi Fon asked. As Kiyone tried to turn, Soi Fon kicked at her. However, it didn't connect with its target; Yoshirou had used shunpo to get in the way, blocking the blow. **Let's bet it all.** "What are you trying to do Yoshirou?"-Soi Fon asked quietly. "You should be chasing down the criminal's rather than trying to save another one." "Well I could ask you the same, why are you trying to attack a weak opponent who has yet to resist?"-Yoshirou argued back, still blocking her foot. Kiyone stumbled back, surprised by the turn of events. "Get your sister out of here."-Yoshirou ordered her, pushing Soi Fon's foot back. Soi Fon returned to a standing stance slowly. "She sided with her Captain, she is a traitor to Soul Society and has forgotten the pride of being part of the Gotei 13, she is nothing but trash, and as such I will deal with her." "She did what she thought was right and true, you know this is all wrong, I tried to tell you yesterday, but you wouldn't listen." "You have done nothing other than show me the trust I foolishly placed in you was wrong, now retreat or I shall kill you too."-Soi Fon stated. Yoshirou shook his head though

"No, all I see is a person trying to do what they want to, to protect the people they care for. I want to be able to do that too, but what I want is to protect all those who are weaker than me, all those I can care for, this is what my heart tells me I must do. My men taught me an important lesson; The strong shall protect the weak. In all of our training, you taught me another. You never gave up when you tried to learn that skill, no matter how long it took you and how it eluded you. You showed me the tenacity, the spirit and the will to never give up. So I shall show you the results of those lessons, the iron strong will with which I shall protect everyone!"-Yoshirou said, settling into his stance. "Even if the first person I must protect sets me against you. You won't harm these people; I swear it on my life!"

Soi Fon seemed to hesitate upon hearing this; she could feel the conviction and feelings from him poured into his words, his fierce will, his determination, his bravery and surprisingly, she could actually feel his desire to protect others. However, she shut her eyes, drawing in her breath. As she breathed out slowly, her eyes opened, showing her own determination. "Then you will follow that path to its end?"-she asked. "Always"-Yoshirou responded. Soi Fon nodded, before leaping the gap between them, ready to attack. However, she never made it. Just as Yoshirou raised an arm to block the initial blow, a shadow blurred between them, grabbing Soi Fon out of the air. What the-? Yoshirou thought as he watched blur and Soi Fon disappear over the mountain edge. **…well I didn't expect that, I thought I was about to fight to the death, only to have it interrupted like that?**

_You can never predict what will happen, it seems Yoruichi wanted to have a chat with her former pupil rather than let you have all the action._

**… I really don't know if I'm happy to have been saved, or disappointed that I couldn't do what I said.**

_You saved that woman didn't you? I doubt Yoruichi would have made it to save her, your intervention bought her time to arrive._

**…still feel slightly pissed regardless…** Yoshirou thought as he stood back up. Looking over to find the Vice Captain, he was surprised to see a massive creature nearby. Minazuki? Yoshirou thought, recognising the creature as Unohana's zanpakuto. He also saw that the saved Vice Captain was trying to carry the unconscious bodies of the fallen Vice Captains over to the creature. "So, you're playing the neutral ground then?" Yoshirou asked Unohana. "I simply do what I can to reduce the casualties. Stirring speech by the way, it's nice to hear such bluster from young people."-Unohana replied. "That wasn't just words, I meant them all. Hey you're not planning to have that thing eat my Vice Captain too?"-Yoshirou asked back, worried as he saw the creature before him literally swallow the injured Vice Captains. "No, that Ryoka simply knocked her out, there was no injuries to her body alike the rest. She will ride on Minazuki like me, Isane and Kiyone over there. Should you not see to your men over there, who are so bravely playing dead?" "Bravely indeed, all part of the plan so to say."-Yoshirou answered.

"Yes, I noticed your little trick earlier, you're the reason that Ryoka stopped Soukyoku aren't you?"-Unohana observed. "Only half, I can't stop Soukyoku by myself, I just slowed it to the point he could stop it himself. I don't suppose you could keep that to yourself could you?" "Well, I didn't tell Ginrei of half of the injuries you used to give his beloved grand child, I think I can keep this quiet too as long as you stop getting into trouble."-Unohana answered. "Well, now we have finished getting all of the Vice Captains safely aboard Minazuki, I shall proceed back to my Barracks. I don't have to warn you to be careful do I? There is something happening beyond the execution, I found a new hint on… Aizen's body… that lead me to decide that I shall pay a visit to the Central 46."-Unohana finished, before surprisingly leaping the entire distance to the top of her zanpakuto. Minazuki quickly leaped into the sky, flying off the hill.

**Well, there is still something going on if Aizen's body seems to indicate the central 46** Yoshirou thought as he walked over to his seemingly injured men. "All right boy's, sleeping time is over. Get off your asses and get ready for the real action." However, the men just lay there, groaning in feigned pain. "GET YOUR ASSES UP NOW!"-Yoshirou bellowed, wherein all the men simultaneously leapt to their feet, laughing at his annoyed expression. Tansho and Haneko quickly walked up to him, turning back towards the men. "Men, you have your orders, lets go!"-Tansho ordered them. The men all saluted, before disappearing off towards their scouting task, leaving Yoshirou with the twins. "Yoshirou, we made a slight improvement to the plan."-Haneko announced, handing a small headset over. "Tansho and I managed to obtain these from the 12th Division, they are specifically designed to work in Soul Society, but there is only one pair. We shall hold on to the first set, and you can keep the second. It should allow easy communication between us for reports" "All right, there has been a slight change to the plans by me as well, c'mon we need to catch up with Renji"-Yoshirou said as he vanished with shunpo. The twin's looked at each other slightly curious as to what he meant before disappearing to follow him.

(2 minutes later) (Stairs to Soukyoku hill)

Yoshirou reappeared carefully on the stairs, having homed in on Renji's reiatsu. Rukia seemed to notice him first, desprately trying to get Renji's attention. Renji turned to see what it was, then relaxed and kept on running when he saw him. "Hey, thanks' for setting a Vice Captain after me Yoshirou, way too cruel a way to get revenge for my earlier comments."-Renji said to him as Yoshirou followed him down the stairs. "I thought you could handle it, just don't go annoying me again, next time I might come after you myself."-Yoshirou joked back. Rukia seemed slightly confused. "Wait, he's helping us…?" she asked Renji. "Yeah, he's been helping those friends of your for ages, saved most of their asses at least once. Hell I would have killed Ichigo earlier if he hadn't stopped me."-Renji replied simply. "Yeah, he was still pretty pissed at Kurosaki back then, but it seams they ironed their differences out after that."-Yoshirou added. Renji just chuckled, responding "I still feel like killing him regardless, but I can forget it now we have you safe."

"…why are you helping me? I don't even know you…"-Rukia asked hesitantly. "Simple, I helped save you because it would annoy Byakuya."-Yoshirou responded, watching her for a reaction. She didn't disappoint. "Don't be stupid! I wanted a serious… sorry."-Rukia responded. "Why sorry? Although you don't know it, we are practically family anyhow, any sister of Byakuya's is a sister of mine. Byakuya and I go way back, so there's no real need to worry about why I saved you."-Yoshirou said. "…nii-sama never told me about you though."-Rukia said, confused. "That's cause we fell out of touch before you joined his family."-Yoshirou answered. "Ah, enough about the past, my friends are here."-Yoshirou finished as Tansho and Haneko appeared behind him, having ditched their ceremonial robes, now back in their normal Shihakshou. "Huh, didn't I defeat those guys already?"-Renji asked. "In your state? Don't push your luck Renji, these guys are definitely as good as you at your best."-Yoshirou answered. "Their your escorts now. You alright with that guys?" Tansho and Haneko nodded. "Yes, this is for the best. Renji-fukutaichou is not in a state to fight, we shall escort them safely to a hiding spot. Once they are safe, we shall message you the location so that we may meet up and decide our next move." Glad that they had agreed with no arguments, Yoshirou prepared to leave. "Thank you, Yoshirou."-Rukia quietly said. "No problem, it's settling the next dispute that's scaring me, I don't fancy stepping between the Sou Taichou and his prey, but I'll do what I can." Yoshirou said. Renji was about to argue against him doing something so rash, but Yoshirou had already disappeared, leaving behind the two men who would be their escort.

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**Well, part 1 of the execution is over. You can probably tell when I had to swap stories, it was pretty obvious. I had intended to have Yoshirou vs Soi Fon, but then I realised two mistakes, what the hell will Yoruichi do, and what I would do with the rest of the guys. I hated having to throw in a nasty anti-climax in there, even made Yoshirou seem pissed at it, i'm very sorry about that. However, to make up for it I will do a little bit involving the Sou Taichou's battle next time, and I shall work harder to make the final losing battle vs Aizen more interesting. Once again, please read and review!**


	22. Chapter 22 Execution day Part 2

**Well, this is part 2, worked hard on the little chunk at the start, I think it wen't pretty well. I was worried it would become a load of rubbish and it might ruin an awesome moment in bleach, but I think I represented it alright. Anyhow, as usual please read and review! **

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**Well, I said I would help with this confrontation, but I'm not feeling so confident now…**Yoshirou thought as he looked down on the scene before him. He had arrived at the area where he was sensing the three Captains reiatsu from, and he couldn't think of a better place that Kyoraku could have chosen for the fight. The entire area was a destroyed mess, buildings falling to pieces about them, there wasn't a soul within a kilometre of the place. **Well, asides us** Yoshirou thought. However, he was having second thoughts now as he managed to sense the reiatsu from the Sou Taichou before him. He didn't know how he had hidden it, but Yamamoto had found a way to hold back his reiatsu so that even Yoshirou had been unaware of its full extent with his advanced reiatsu scanning capabilities. The reiatsu he felt now was huge, and intensely strong. As he watched, Yamamoto suddenly shouted "Draw!" All three captains had their blades out before Yoshirou was even capable of noticing the movement, however he saw the two captains being blown away with the pure wind force from Yamamoto's initial swing. **Shit, that is insane! Ukitake and Kyoraku, thrown back by a sword swung purely with physical strength? I thought I might be able to help since I can use elemental abilities just like Yamamoto, but I can't do anything against brute force of that level!**

As he watched, the two men skidded a short distance, before staying in a crouching pose. "Now, what are you two going to do?"-Yamamoto asked, although it seemed more rhetorical than a question. "Do you plan on fighting me without releasing your zanpakuto?" Kyoraku adjusted the sakkat which had slipped when he jumped, asking back "Do we have to fight, no matter what, Yama-jii?" "Silence! I have already taught you. I cannot forgive those who disregard justice."-Yamamoto declared back. "But the one who taught us to fight for our own justice was you, Yama-jii"-Kyoraku argued back "You were also the one who taught us to become strong for this very purpose, Sensei!"-Ukitake agreed. "Don't be fools, your justice is not meant to ignore the justice of the world." Justice of the world? Yoshirou wondered at the odd term. Whatever it was, it seemed to antagonise Ukitake, who jumped to his feet. "If that's so, then what is the justice of the world, Genryuusai-sensei?"

Yamamoto seemed to be annoyed with this comment, closing his eyes as he replied "You will not hear reason…" His eyes then opened, instead turning away from the captains and looking straight at Yoshirou. Yoshirou felt the effect immediately, losing control of his breath.** He's suppressing me with just a glance?** Yoshirou realised as he was forced to start pulling on his own reiatsu simply to overcome the effect. **A glance and I have to use my reiatsu just to overcome it? This is insane, how can he be that powerful?** "Leave, this is not a matter that will concern you, Yoshirou Kenshin!" At the mention of his name, the other two Captains looked up in surprise at him. "Yoshirou-kun?"-Kyoraku said in surprise. Realising there was no point in hiding now, Yoshirou stood up, jumping down the side of the building and walking towards the men. "I ordered you to leave, Yoshirou Kenshin."-Yamamoto said. Yoshirou could literally feel the compulsion to run in his bones; Yamamoto was able to instil fear into the very core of his being. It took everything he had to continue walking over to the two surprised Captains.

Yamamoto raised an eyebrow at his continued resistance, watching as he stood beside the two Captains. "Sorry, Yamamoto-san, but I can't just run and ignore this now I am here."-Yoshirou said, trying to put everything into making sure his voice didn't slip or betray the fear he really felt. "These two men are my friends and traitors or not, I cannot abandon them. I might as well kill myself than betray my comrades, so I am ready to die by their sides if I must." "Yoshirou, stop acting all brave and stupid!"-Ukitake shouted at him. "Your resolve to help us as comrades gladdens me, but this fight is not yours, our lives are not some responsibility of yours. For heavens sake you're the weakest out of us here, leave before you are killed!" "I can't do that, Ukitake-san. As I said already I would rather die than betray you guys, since I'm here, I am not leaving."-Yoshirou stated back at him. Ukitake's face showed a mixture of emotions, anger and upset amongst them.

"Enough!"-Yamamoto suddenly announced. "If he is resolved to die beside you, then this discussion is over!"-he shouted, stabbing his zanpakuto into the ground. The man shrugged his shoulders, raising his arms to let his Haori fly off. His reiatsu then started to climb slowly, showing itself as a burning aura about him. "Yoshirou-kun, if you want to live, this is probably your last chance."-Kyoraku calmly stated as Yamamoto pulled his arms through his shihakshou, stripping to his waist. "What your feeling from him now is but the start, it's going to get a lot worse." "I already know what he is capable of."-Yoshirou answered as he stared at the surprisingly impressive figure of the Sou Taichou. "I can sense total reiatsu's of my foes; I already know just how high he can go…" Kyoraku seemed surprised to hear this. "So you're aware of what he has? I'm impressed that you didn't collapse like poor Nanao-chan did."-Kyoraku said as opposite them, Yamamoto seemed to be testing his muscles, cracking each tendon one by one. "So you know what chances we have?" "Next to none, we can probably last a good while, but he is ultimately the stronger."-Yoshirou answered.

"Then all the more reason you should leave!"-Ukitake shouted once again. "We can't watch out for you against Genryuusai-sensei!" "Don't worry; I can look out for myself. If at the least, I won't die by his flames, those I can handle." Yoshirou said as Genryuusai picked up his sword, flames igniting about its edge. Yoshirou drew his own zanpakuto. **Are you ready Taiyou?**

_Against Ryuujin Jakka? We don't have much of a chance, but I'll do what I can._

**That's all I can ask, sorry that I've put us in this situation.**

_Don't be, you followed the path before you, if this is the end of the road, then I'm glad to be at your side._

**Thanks** _"Akariotorou, Taiyoukousen."_ Yoshirou quietly intoned, watching as his zanpakuto changed into the form he recognised, blade extending outwards to form the familiar great sword design. Holding the sword up parallel to his body, he focused as he said _"__Shōdo no Henkan"_ (1) The blade glowed golden, a core of light appearing in the centre hollow of the blade. Yamamoto swung his sword in their direction; the two captains braced themselves for the coming blast as fire flew out from the swing everywhere. The buildings about them ignited from the force of the blow, being slowly reduced to dust under its wrath. The fire spun about it's castor as Yamamoto declared _"Reduce all creation into ashes, Ryuujin Jakka!"_ However, there was a path of fire missing, behind the three men. The two Captains looked back up, surprised by the lack of pressure from the strike, before they realised the flames had never reached them. "See, like I said I at least won't die from his flames."-Yoshirou stated as a wall of light dispersed about them into nothing. "A barrier?"-Ukitake asked. "Nah, Ukitake I think we just saw something better."-Kyoraku joked. "I can convert reiatsu force about me into light with this technique, while I wasn't sure if it would stop the flames, seems it did."-Yoshirou explained. "Impossible! You stopped Ryuujin Jakka's flames? The most powerful fire Zanpakuto out of them all and you stopped it?"-Ukitake questioned in disbelief. "Wish I could, all I can do is stop the flames and reiatsu from reaching me and all within a small distance from me, that and I can't move while using this technique. All I can do is stop his zanpakuto affecting a small area about us, I can't do anything about his brute power or if he cut's me down while I'm using it."

"Well, it seam's the only one ready to defend themselves was the only innocent one among you fools. Are you all planning to die without even releasing your swords? The light zanpakuto is impressive, but it shall not save you all from being returned to ash."-Yamamoto said, flame burning anew from the edge of his zanpakuto. About the three, the wall of fire closed as the flames instead wen't around the effective barrier Yoshirou had created. "Wait, Genryuusai-sensei!"-Ukitake asked one last time. "Please, let the boy go! He is being foolish and doesn't understand his place!" "It is his choice to die alongside you, do not make light of it, Juushiro Ukitake."-Yamamoto said, although the slight change in his features from the pleading question showed his reluctance to kill an innocent. "Then…let us change his choice!"-Ukitake suddenly said. Before Yoshirou could react to the words, he felt a hand on each shoulder, both of his allies had grabbed a hold of him. "Sorry, Yoshirou-kun."-Kyoraku softly said. "What the-!" Yoshirou said as he felt himself thrown full force towards the walls of flame. Before he could even prepare to hit it, the flames parted suddenly. Tumbling in the dirt, Yoshirou managed to pick himself back up, trying to return to the circle, but the flames had reformed before him, forcing him away. "Ukitake! Kyoraku!" he desperately shouted back over the flames, shocked as to why they had done this.

"Leave! You have a responsibility to fulfil, Captain!"-Ukitake shouted back. **What?** Yoshirou thought. **What is he talking about?** "You did what you said you would, you impressed me. Your bravery and loyalty to your friends despite the situation you faced has shown me that you are indeed ready. For what time I can, I Juushiro Ukitake, support the decision to make you into a Captain! Now go, Kido Corps Captain Yoshirou Kenshin! Your responsibility is to guide your squad, not to help two men who have already chosen their path!"-Ukitake finished. Yoshirou bit his lip hard, thinking about how he could do anything now. **I can't stop the flames and move, rejoining the fight from here is impossible! This is the second time I have been saved! I am not just some kid who everybody else must protect!**

_Calm down. Ukitake and Kyoraku are strong; they won't fall quite so readily as you think. We still have something we can do, find out the truth behind everything, and give them a reason to stop their fight. There is nothing more we can do here except die. Ukitake and Kyoraku instead of leaving you the task to die alongside them, have given you the chance to save them, we must take it, and try and stop all this by finding the true source._

Hearing the truth in her words, Yoshirou sealed his shikai, placing the sword back in its sheath. "All right, I'll try and find out the true reason behind this execution, just hang on until I can come back and save you two!"-Yoshirou shouted, before using his shunpo, heading away. Inside the circle of flames, Ukitake sighed. "What a troublesome man, he still thinks' he has to save us, even in this situation." "Just leave it Ukitake, he was born stubborn, he can't help it."-Kyoraku responded. "By the way Yama-jii, thanks' for letting the kid go." "He was an innocent, and only in the way. There was no reason to kill him."-Yamamoto responded, although inside he also knew a second reason that he would never utter. He still remembered the death match he had with the light zanpakuto's previous wielder, if for any reason a wielder who was already as powerful as Yoshirou lost control of the sword, even he would not be able to stop the rampage that would happen. **No, there is no chance that he would, he is a true member of that bloodline, and he cannot lose control of it. The last man who lost control was an impure descendant.** Yamamoto thought. **But, even without that chance, I could not kill that child, that would be a crime greater than any that have been committed today, that would be betraying the trust I was given to watch over him.**

"Now, turning to ash without even defending yourself cannot be thought of as noble."-Yamamoto noted, flames roaring up from his sword. The flames that had been surrounding them blazed with a new intensity, Yamamoto had been holding back while Yoshirou was there. Kyoraku sighed, realising this change before saying "There's no helping it, you did us a favour, we'll return in kind by fighting properly. You ready to go, Ukitake?" Ukitake said nothing for a moment, just watching his teacher from across the way. He then slowly closed his eyes, before snapping them back open, "Yeah." Pulling his sword down to his side, he shouted "_Nami kotogotoku waga tate to nare, ikazuchi kotogotoku waga yaiba to nare!" _Before him, his blade seemed to split into two, reforming into a new shape as it did this. A rope sprung out, charms ringing in the air. The blades took shape, before Ukitake held his weapon up before him, both arms crossed in front of him. "_S__ō__gyo no Kotowari!" _Beside him, Kyoraku placed a hand on his second zanpakuto_. "Hana kaze midarete, kashin naki." _As he said this, he drew the blade. Flipping it in midair, he crossed both blades before him. _"Tenpū midarete, tenma warau._ _Katen Kyōkotsu!"_ he finished while pulling the blades apart. An eerie screech could be heard as the weapons clashed against another, before they instantly changed into their shikai forms.

Yamamoto appraised his two student's before him. **Sōgyo no Kotowari. Katen Kyōkotsu. The only two of their kind in all of Soul Society. The two zanpakuto that are a pair. As expected, it is quite a sight**. Bringing his thoughts back to the fight, Yamamoto said "You haven't changed since the old times." "Thank you for noticing."-Kyoraku replied. Preparing himself for the fight to come, Yamamoto asked. "Are you prepared?" Both men looked at him with a steely determination in their eyes. "Anytime."-Ukitake finished. There was a pause for a few seconds, before as one, all three charged across the open area, their clash causing an explosion of dust and debris about them.

(5 minutes later)

"Haneko, Tansho, whoever's on the line, report." Yoshirou said into his headpiece, deciding to test whether they worked or not along his way to the Central 46. "Tansho here, I am still proceeding down the hill with Renji, although earlier we spotted a couple of Ryoka run past us after Kurosaki. Haneko went with them just in case anything might happen up there, so I am the escort for now. We haven't made as much progress as I had hoped; Renji has been slowed considerably by his injuries. I offered to run ahead with Kuchiki Rukia, but he refused to give her up to me. He may trust you, but I think I am yet to earn his trust."-Tansho reported on the over end of the line. "Don't worry about it too much, he's a stubborn ass anyway, it's not that he doesn't trust you. Anyway, I'm afraid I failed to stop the confrontation between the Sou-taichou and the two captains; I only got out because they literally threw me out of the fight and locked the door behind me. I'm en route to the Central 46 now in order to determine the truth behind all this, perhaps I can stop the fighting this way."-Yoshirou stated. "Good luck, but don't forget, once you go underground the radio's will be jammed by the sekiseki stone about the outside of the Central 46 buildings, we will lose contact until you clear the disturbance."-Tansho reminded him before turning his receiver off. **Well, least they are still doing okay **Yoshirou thought to himself. **I have to hurry; this is my only chance to stop all this now.**

However, halfway through his thoughts, he heard the clashing of zanpakuto's nearby. Recognizing the reiatsu of Hitsugaya's Vice Captain, he decided to check what it was. As he arrived to the fight, he watched the woman clashing with another person. **Wait a second, that's the Vice Captain that was with Gin!** Yoshirou realized. The fight seemed to be taking a turn for the worse for Matsumoto though, as her sword suddenly dropped to the roof. "…It doubles the weight of whatever it cut's. It doubles that weight again if hit twice. And doubles again with the third hit."-the blonde man stated. **What the, is that his shikai ability?** Yoshirou wondered, barely able to believe what he was saying. "The opponent that has been sliced at will not be able to endure the weight, and will stick to the ground with their head out, as if apologizing. Hence, Wabisuke." **Pun on words, that is really sad…** Yoshirou thought. "If you weren't counting, then I shall tell you. If that katana's true weight is 0.8kg, then after multiplying it by 2 to the power of 7, it will be 102.4kg. That isn't a weight you can carry while running."

"Well well, that's an amusing little trick." Yoshirou said as he appeared behind the man, grabbing a hold of the blade. "Doesn't seem to work if you're hitting your opponents body though, must only work against metal objects."-Yoshirou said as he felt no increase in weight despite being in contact with the sword. The surprised man tried to pull away, but Yoshirou's grip on his blade halted him. "You! Your that man who confronted Ichimaru-taichou and Hitsugaya-taichou!"-the man said in recognition. "Yep, and you're going to spill your gut's on where that damn captain of yours is, or I'll do more than just hold onto this blunt excuse for a zanpakuto."-Yoshirou threatened. "Yoshirou! Ichimaru Gin is at the Central 46! Hitsugaya-taichou is already in pursuit of him!" Matsumoto shouted at him. **So Gin is behind this!** Yoshirou thought, although a blow to his hand surprised him, as his opponent managed to break his grip.

The man swung his hooked zanpakuto at him again, but Yoshirou just blocked with his hand. "Look, your trick might work on somebody at the same level as you, but you have no hope against someone of my power. Against me, you might as well be swinging a soft bat."-Yoshirou stated exasperatedly as he sunk his other fist into the Vice Captains gut. The man held onto consciousness barely, his face showing disbelief at how cleanly he had been overpowered. "Thanks for the assistance, but I could have defeated him myself."-Matsumoto said. "Probably, this guy is too full of himself to realize he isn't that skilled in zanjutsu, he only has a neat trick, not any real ability for sword fighting."-Yoshirou stated as he released the man's zanpakuto, dropping man and sword to the floor. "Can I leave arresting him to you? I need to chase after Gin."-Yoshirou asked, although he didn't wait for an answer as he disappeared once again. **Hitsugaya can probably handle Gin as long as he isn't riled by anything** Yoshirou thought**. But if I help, we can capture him that bit faster, no matter what I need to end this now. I still wonder what Kira is up to since Unohana took her; I hope she is alright…**

(P.O.V change)

**I didn't expect to come here when I asked to follow Unohana** Kira thought as she accompanied the Captain and her Vice Captain into the Central 46 main chambers. When they had arrived originally, she noticed that the door had already been sliced to pieces by a previous intruder. Unohana had explained that Hitsugaya had also been here, saying she could feel his reiatsu from the damage caused to the door. Once they had continued inside, she felt all of her senses turned off, the walls of the Central 46 stopped her from sensing the battles raging outside. They had then continued, noticing the lack of any defense mechanisms or guards. Coming back to where they were now, she heard Unohana exclaim in surprise. Looking about, she saw a huge amount of dead bodies everywhere. "What the, did Hitsugaya do this?"-she asked nervously. "No, he would have no reason to commit this atrocity, and all the bodies are cold. They have been dead for a long time, somebody butchered the Central 46 and hid here."-Unohana theorized, stepping away from the body she had touched.

"The real question here is how long? Is this a recent development, or has this been ever since the young Rukia Kuchiki left for the real world?" Why would it be from then? Kira wondered, before Isane suddenly exclaimed-"You mean that the entire execution may have been fake orders?" "Exactly, however we shan't find our answers here, look at the wall." Glancing over, Kira could see nothing there but the scratches and blood from the struggle that had happened there. "Oh, I'm sorry Kira, what I mean is that there is a new cut, somebody has passed by here recently."-Unohana explained. "It means there is a chance that our elusive enemy may be further in. Keep your guard up Kira, Isane."

As they entered the Seijo to Kyorin, the living quarters of the Gotei 13, Kira reeled in shock at the sight before her. The entire area was covered in a thick layer of ice, spiking jagged all across the place. As well as this, there were three people in the chamber; all three wore the Haori of Captain rank. Judging from the ice, she guessed that Hitsugaya must have used his Bankai. Looking closer at the stage, that was confirmed by the stature of the young boy covered in ice, dragon wings forming from them at his shoulders. His opponent however was the biggest shock of all. Standing there in the flesh was the dead captain, alive once more, Aizen Sousuke. Suddenly, the air seemed to whip up about Hitsugaya as he charged forward, stabbing for Aizen. However, as far as Kira could see, Aizen dodged back, the attack missing entirely. The place where he had stood froze over in a block. For some reason, Hitsugaya just stood there staring at the block. As Kira watched, Aizen walked forward, drawing his zanpakuto. He then disappeared in a flash, appearing past Hitsugaya. Hitsugaya's eyes seemed to flash with surprise, as he started bleeding heavily from his torso, his Bankai shattering about him. "T-This can't be…"-he stuttered out in pain. Aizen didn't even spare him a look, instead looking at the frozen area about him.

"What a lovely view."-Aizen noted peacefully as Hitsugaya fell to the floor behind him. "It isn't the season for it, but seeing ice during this time of year isn't bad."-he added as he stepped past the fallen captain, starting to descend from the raised plateau as he walked towards the other Captain there, Ichimaru Gin. "Aizen-Taichou."-Unohana announced, drawing the Captain's attention towards their party and stopping Aizen's descent. "No, you no longer have the right to be called Captain. The traitorous criminal, Aizen Sousuke."-Unohana continued. "Domo, Unohana-Taichou."-Aizen replied, smiling at the pun he made (2). "I thought it was about time for you to come, if you could. How did you realize I was here so easily?" "If you really want to know how, the Seijo to Kyorin in the Spirit Courts is the only place in Soul Society that is completely restricted. For you to make an elaborate corpse doll just to hide yourself, there is no other place you would go than the most safe and difficult to find place, the Spirit Court."-Unohana stated. **Wait, she knew that Aizen was alive? Why didn't she report this?** Kira wondered as she watched the confrontation between the two captains. "Your analysis is good, but there are two mistakes. The first one is that I did not come here in order to hide. And then the other one…"-Aizen announced as he raised his zanpakuto before him. "This is not a corpse doll."-he stated. "Wh-When did you get that?"-Isane asked in shock. "When did I get this? I was holding it in this hand, right from the start. It's just that I did not let you see it that way until now. Now, Kira-kun, would you care to guess what I am holding?"

Kira was surprised that she was being addressed, she did not understand the question, it was pretty obvious what he was holding. However, Unohana and Isane both turned to her as if they needed her to clarify it. "Err, your zanpakuto?"-Kira answered. This drew surprise from the face of both of her companions, who apparently hadn't notice, spinning back to look at Aizen again. "Correct, although only you alone see it that way. Now for the other two's understanding, I'll remove the technique,_Kudakero,__ Kyouka Suigetsu." _Nothing happened as far as Kira could see, but Unohana and Isane jumped in surprise. Aizen dropped the zanpakuto to the floor, stabbing into the ground and remaining upright. "My zanpakuto, Kyouka Suigetsu, has an ability called "Kanzen Saimin""

"Complete…hypnotism?"-Isane asked. "But, Kyouka Suigetsu is a flowing water type zanpakuto that uses reflection in mist and flowing water to confuse enemies and create war between comrades!" As she said this, Aizen continued his descent down from the plateau. "Isn't that what you told me, Aizen-taichou? You gathered up all of us Vice Captains and actually showed it to us!"-Isane continued. However, Aizen merely smiled at her ignorance. "I see. So that is the ceremony for the hypnotism."-Unohana said. "Correct. Kanzen Saimin controls all five senses, creating a single form, figure, energy, touch and smell. It can deceive an enemy with all of those. In other words, I can make a fly look like a dragon, and a swamp look like a field of flowers. All it takes is to see my zanpakuto being released to come into effect. Anyone who has seen the release falls under its illusion from that instant onwards. Until I release Kyouka Suigetsu, they are under the illusion from then on"

Unohana suddenly seemed to realize something. "…just seeing it once…"-she said quietly, before her face contorted in surprise. **What could she have realized?** Kira wondered. "It seems you realized it. To fall under my technique after seeing it once, means that someone who cannot see cannot fall under the spell. In other words, Kaname Tosen has been my underling since the very start." At hearing this, Gin threw his arm out to the side, a tape of material flying out from his uniform. The tape started to encircle them; Kira knew exactly what it had to be. **A teleportation spell? I have to stop him somehow!** Kira ran forward, drawing her zanpakuto to slash the tape. However, just as she reached the place where Gin and Aizen stood, a hand shot out from inside the movement of the tape. Kira suddenly found herself roughly pulled into the dome that was being created by Gin, Aizen's hand having grabbed her shihakshou. "Ah yes, a rather fortunate turn of events that you are here. I can make use of you."-Aizen said, his reiatsu flowing out from him and forcing Kira's body into a kind of paralysis. Helpless to resist, Kira could only watch as Aizen said. "Lastly, I shall praise you Unohana. It was impressive that you realized the fake while under the effect of Kyouka Suigetsu, Unohana-taichou." The two others were just staring shocked, surprised by the turn of events. "Farewell, we shall not meet again."-Aizen finished as the material finished whirling about them.

(P.O.V change)

**What the heck has happened here**? Yoshirou wondered as he looked at the ruined security doors leading into the Central 46. **Somebody tore it down?** However, as he considered this, he felt the headpiece vibrate. He also simultaneously noticed that a blast of blue energy had flown across the sky. **Blue, a Soukatsui spell! That was the signal for emergency information!** Yoshirou realized as he immediately stopped and started using shunpo in the indicated direction. Turning on his headset, he said "Tansho, somebody just set off a signal, its urgent!" A surprisingly panicked voice answered on the other side. "I know! I asked Haneko to set it off, something happened back here! Tosen suddenly appeared, we tried to stop him but he used some kind of teleportation magic to take Renji and Rukia away!" **Shit!** "Tansho, do you guys still have that marker I gave you?" "The teleportation marker stone? Yes, but why? It was supposed to be used in case we needed to return to the barracks, but we didn't have time to activate it before they were taken!"-Tansho answered. "Doesn't matter, I can just use the magic myself and get to you guys!" Yoshirou said as he concentrated hard. Using his senses, he homed in on the magic that he could feel, finding both Tansho and Haneko close to the Soukyoku. "It won't save much time, but every minute counts, god knows why Tosen took her, but it can't be good!" Suddenly, Yoshirou was hit with a connection of reiatsu. Recognizing the pattern he thought **Tenteikura? I didn't think anybody in our team could use that. **

"Those of Captain, Vice Captain or deputy Captain status in the Gotei 13, the stand in Captain of the Kido Corps, and all of the Ryoka, this is 4th squad Vice Captain, Isane Kotetsu. This is an emergency. This is an emergency message from the 4th Squad Captain Unohana Retsu and I. Everything I am about to tell you is true. There has been a betrayal, lead by the previously thought deceased Sousuke Aizen. He, along with his conspirators Ichimaru Gin and Kaname Tosen, have plotted against Soul Society. The entire execution has been a set up; the Central 46 have all been murdered, to the last man. The orders for the execution were made by Aizen, who was posing as the collective will of the Central 46. The death of Aizen was also a set up; he did this to gain freedom to act within the chambers of the Central 46. Both Hinamori-fukutaichou and Hitsugaya-taichou have already been defeated by him. We have located him as now atop the Soukyoku Hill. He has also abducted the 12th Seat of the Kido Corps, Kira Hazuki, although for what purposes, we do not know. At the request of Unohana-Taichou, all Captains' that are still able to fight are to assault the Soukyoku Hill and apprehend the rogue shinigami, Aizen Sousuke and his conspirators. Caution is to be used; the enemy has use of an illusion based ability that makes him extremely dangerous."

As the message ended, it dawned on Yoshirou just what it meant. **He's abducted Kira and Rukia! Why in hell has he done this? What could he possibly benefit from setting this all up about Rukia?**

_This is only a thought, but let's say it's a trap, that's the only reason I can think of right now. He may be aiming to kill both Byakuya and you, maybe even more. It's the only reason I can think of that he has abducted those two. He may have set all this up to go for you two initially, choosing Byakuya's sister as a target, neither of you would have been able to see it through to the end. But things went wrong, Byakuya didn't fight, so Aizen couldn't kill him for treason, you also kept very low key, so he couldn't kill you either. That's why he has kidnapped them now, to draw you two out so he can kill you. I might be wrong, but unless we know more, that's the only feasible idea I have. But I still don't understand why he has done it so openly, if his target is you two, then there is no reason to have moved so openly, he could risk the Sou Taichou reaching him first._

**Trap or not, I have to go. He could kill them if I don't, and Byakuya has no hope in fighting them alone, he's just been fighting Kurosaki, he's going to be in a pretty bad condition no matter what.** Yoshirou thought back, as he concentrated anew on the teleportation magic. Focusing on the resonating source held by Tansho, he spread his hands apart, intoning "Kūkanten'i!" he was covered in a green glow of reiatsu, he vanished, teleporting towards his target.

(P.O.V change)

Aizen looked out over the Soukyoku hills as the magic that Gin had used finished it's purpose. He dropped the girl which he had been carrying; she had fallen unconscious from the shock of proximity to his reiatsu. "Well, seem's tha' trick worked ou' all righ'"-Gin said as the tape retreated about his arm. "Now I'm dea' curious, why gra' the l'il girly there, Aizen-taichou?" "It's simple, I need Yoshirou Kenshin to come, he may stay back if we only took Rukia Kuchiki, especially when the news comes out about our little escapade. However, now we have his precious subordinate, he is sure to come running."-Aizen explained. Gin seemed to give him a slightly confused look, although it was hard to tell with his perpetual grin. "No' to soun' like I'm ignoran', but I though' you want'd ta avoid confrontin' him?"-Gin questioned. "Yes, that was part of the plan, but I discovered something very interesting while I was going through the research within the Central 46. After I found what I had been searching for, I thought to look up a particular topic from a niggling thought, and I discovered that rather than being a potential thorn, he could be a much larger problem than even I had anticipated. I'm surprised that the Sou Taichou managed to hide these facts for so long, seeing as how the research indicates how deeply tied he is into this. After realizing the truth, I decided that it would be in our best interests that he died before he realised the truth as well."

"Well wha's to say he d'snt already know wha'ever you're talkin' 'bout?"-Gin inquired. Aizen shook his head slightly. "The Sou Taichou would never tell him, not unless there was no other choice. Yoshirou probably hasn't realised, but he has literally been groomed by that man. If you stop to think about it, what are the chances that a random brat from Rukongai "happens" to walk into the Sou Taichou, who never normally leaves the 1st squad, but just happened to be in Rukongai that say? He then personally instils into that brat the idea to become a shinigami. What then are the chances that the Sou Taichou would offer a recruit, fresh from the academy, a position in the 1st Squad? He was probably annoyed when he was turned down, but he has always played the secret close to his chest, why else would he fight so hard to try and instil that boy into being a Captain? He should have disbanded the squad 100 years ago, but he didn't, stayed by the words of a mere upstart 3rd seat. He has literally changed the order of Soul Society that he started over a thousand years ago to accommodate this boy. I'm very surprised that I didn't realise a connection any sooner."

"Wow, I nv'r really saw tha' myself. So wha's the big ol' secret then?"-Gin asked, curious as to what could have Aizen so personally interested. "It matter's not. Before this day is over, Yoshirou will be dead, and the Hougyoku will finally be in my hand. I will tell you one thing though. If worst comes to worst, I would rather we completed the objective of killing that boy, than the objective of obtaining the Hougyoku. The Hougyoku is indestructible, the best Soul Society can do is hide it. Yoshirou Kenshin, on the other hand, could both come to realise his Bankai, and could also learn the truth behind his little known past. Either situation will make him a formidable enemy, so we must cut the bud now before it blooms." Aizen turned, seeing the disturbance building up nearby them. "Well, it seem's that Tosen succeeded in his capture, let us go greet our poor captive."

(P.O.V change)

Yoshirou finished materialising with his magic… but then felt vertigo as he started to slip backwards. **Wha-?** Suddenly a pair of hands grabbed his arms, stopping him from falling. Looking about him, he realised that he had materialized on the stairs up to Soukyoku Hill, Tansho and Haneko had just stopped him from falling off the stairs and down the hill. "Wow, thanks' guys, that would have stung if I fell…hey wait, why are we on the stairs exactly?"-Yoshirou asked. Haneko responded, saying-"We decided that since your last words were every minute counts, we would try and cover as much space as possible before you teleported to us. Of course, we did not anticipate you would appear so close to the edge, our apologies." Tansho then said-"We are sorry that we failed in the mission you gave us, we let the enemy get Rukia, although after hearing that message from earlier, we don't really understand the enemies' motives." "It doesn't matter, you were outmaneuvered by a Captain, there is no shame in that."-Yoshirou reassured them, before throwing his senses up above. Just as he suspected, there were multiple reiatsu's up there. **Gin, Tosen, Aizen, Rukia, Kira and Renji…wait theres also more reiatsu, Kurosaki is up there! And near the top of the stairs, it seems all the other Ryoka are also going up, Kurosaki must have gone ahead. **

"Okay guy's, there are three captains up there, chances are things are going to get nasty very fast. We only really need to delay, the other Captains will arrive soon as back up, even now I can feel one Captain is pretty close. We need to get up there and help in whatever way's we can."-Yoshirou finished up. "Priority is in keeping everyone alive, don't try and escape with anybody, we are delaying, not rescuing here." "As you say, Taichou, although if we may, can we deal with Tosen?"-Haneko asked. "I agree, I wish to correct our wrongs and deal with him myself."-Tansho agreed. Yoshirou laughed. "You would never think we were about to charge into a bunch of Captains, you guys sound so gung-ho. Fine, let's make a deal, you guys get Tosen as long as I get Aizen, deal?" The two men nodded, before following Yoshirou up the stairs, utilising shunpo to get there as fast as they could. **Just wait everybody, I'm coming!**

* * *

**Well, chapter over, next one is the final confrontation. I'm afraid I may massivly twist event's that happened next, the end result will probably be the same, Aizen win's, everybody lives, but timing for Captain arrivals will probably be extended massivly, certain people may turn up in a different order, I dunno, its probably gonna be big and creative. However, it looks like my first arc is soon to be reaching it's end, there probably will be a break before I start again after this all finishes, I have to think about everything I might do.**

**Well, doesn't matter at the moment, seeya in the next chapter!**

**UPDATE: Ack, forgot the added notes**

**1. Shōdo no Henkan: Conversion of Illuminance-Yes the name is particulary weird, but I thought it had a good ring to it, don't like it? Too late, I already posted it lol. It's basicly the move where in reiatsu force about Yoshirou is completely eliminated, converting it into light energy. It's basicly an uber-anti elemental/kido type technique. However, it has the distinct disadvantage of Yoshirou being required to keep a particular posture and being unable to move or defend himself against physical attacks, 100% reiatsu defence, 0% physical defence so to say. Also, it takes a small amount of time to use, so it can't be used in mid fight, it was only since he knew the attack was coming that he could. It's more a support ability than a defensive ability, since the effect extends to a 5 metre circular radius about him. Sorry if it sounds god-modish, i tried to limit it with the implications of it's use.**

**2. Just for the people who don't know, the pun is that Domo means both hello and thank you, he is both greeting Unohana and thanking her for the more fitting title.**


	23. Chapter 23 Execution day Finale

**Biggest chapter yet, this one reaches about 10,000 words. This marks the end of the action for this story, I will probably have one or two more chapters to wrap up all my details, but this arc is reaching it's end.**

**Oh a note, how come nobody either looked for, or looked at my last chapter? I know I named it a bit similar, but c'mon, not one view or one visitor? Did the site not update my story or has this just completely fallen out of popularity? Well either way it's almost finished, if you dislike it, you won't have to suffer for long. Anyhow, read on and review if ya want.**

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Yoshirou reached the top of the Soukyoku hill, and beheld the sight before him. **Shit, everything went that badly?** Yoshirou wandered as he saw the situation. The twin's behind him seemed to also notice the mess about, although they remained silent so that their enemies wouldn't notice them. Pointing at Tosen, Tansho and Haneko turned to look at Yoshirou. **Ah, yeah they wanted him** Yoshirou remembered as he nodded at them. Upon seeing his confirmation, the twin's disappeared, cloaking themselves in reiatsu and going for their target. His attention back on the battle field, Yoshirou sensed the dangerously low reiatsu levels coming from Kurosaki and Renji first. They both looked a real bad mess; both men had fallen to the floor, too badly injured to remain standing any more. Kurosaki was in a right royal state, multiple injuries laced across his body. His shoulder was bleeding pretty badly from a hole. **Well it seem's Byakuya doesn't mind repeating the same trick twice. **Yoshirou realised as he recognised the wound as being nearly identical to the one Byakuya inflicted on him several days ago. As well as this, he had numerous slashes and cuts nicked across his body. However, all of these paled in comparison to whatever must have been on his stomach. Although he was lying chest down, Yoshirou could see the blood pooling about him from the wound, the slash so deep that Yoshirou could see the edge piece of the wound, even though Kurosaki's posture covered the rest of the wound.

Renji was in a similar state, although not quite as bad. His shoulder had a deep slice taken out of it, blood pouring all over his body. This wound probably wouldn't have been enough to defeat him normally, but he had already faced a near death state when he had fought Byakuya, he was weak even without the injury that AIzen and his allies had inflicted. **Shit, so they are both out of the fight** Yoshirou thought as he turned to see the enemies. Aizen was seemingly describing something to Kurosaki, pulling on the connecter to Rukia's neck, literally dragging her slowly with him. She was still in a combined state of shock from everything about her, and weakness from the closeness to a huge reiatsu. **Of course, she's been held in that cell for ages, her ability to resist foreign reiatsu must be at it's limit.** Yoshirou realised. Tosen seemed to be simply watching the procession.

**So, it looks like Aizen is yet to actually harm anybody** Yoshirou thought as he noticed Kira lying unconscious, nearby to the fallen forms of Renji and Kurosaki. **Judging from the reiatsu's coming towards the hill, there is still a decent amount of time before the majority make it. I think Komamura is very close though, he is scaling the hill right now, maybe a few minutes away. With his help, we may stand a chance. The twins can deal with Tosen, like they wanted their already preparing to deal with him. I can try and free Rukia from Aizen, out of the people who are incoming, I'm the one most likely to succeed against him. Now, if Komamura deals with Gin…wait…where is Gin! **"Seem's yo' havin fun watchin' all this." Yoshirou heard a quiet voice say behind him. Yoshirou tensed, preparing to turn and attack "Whoa there kid, don' go makin' a fuss now or Aizen's gonna come for ya."-Gin said, once again quietly. Yoshirou turned slowly to face him, his face trying to keep calm as he looked at the creepy man leaning against a dead tree, although not succeeding. "No nee' ta be makin' tha' face now."-Gin warned. "Afta' all I jus' came ta give ya a warnin'." "I have no need to listen to you, traitor."-Yoshirou spat back, although he still withheld from attacking

"Still, ya migh' wanna listen anyhow. See, Aizen-taichou over there seem's ta want ya dead, bu' personally I don' like havin' ta kill kids. Since he hasn' tol' me ta actually kill ya, we c'n jus' chat for a momen' righ'?"-Gin asked. **So Taiyou was right, their objective is to kill me, although I still don't know if that is there primary objective.** "I'm guessin' those men skulkin' in the tree's over there are wi' ya to?"-Gin asked. **He noticed them too? Well, I suppose delaying was my original intent, if he's wanting to talk, I can just let him talk.** "And? We all have standing orders to apprehend you guys."-Yoshirou stated. Gin whistled quietly at that "Scary, scary tha' is, bu' I thin' your underestimatin' us too, Aizen over there coul' kill most o' you guy's with no probl'm, even I coul' kill a guy li' you easily, no Bankai, a close range shikai, yep, only t' easy."-Gin stated. "It's only tha' Aizen wan's ta kill ya hisself tha' your still alive righ' now, he's busy trackin' tha Komamura's progress, he ain' noticed ya ye'."

"So what exactly are you doing here?"-Yoshirou asked. "We' I didn' ha' anything ta do, so a tol' Tosen I was goin' ta loo' abou f'r any people abou' the hill. Ah then noticed ya, an yer men, nice tri' by th' way, hidin' your reiatsu so we couldn' tell ya location s' easy. O course, its only 'cause everybodies trackin' tha Komamura's approach tha' we hadn' noticed ya, it won' work f'rever. Anyhow, I came ova' 'ere to give ya a choice."-Gin answered. **A choice, what on earth could that deceptive snake mean? **Yoshirou wondered. "Y'see, Aizen piqued ma curiosi'y earlier, bu' if ya die now, I won' hear the res' of it. Y'see I'm dead curious abou' wha' so importan' wi' killing ya. Bu' if ya die, Aizen won' brin' it up again, hes tha' type o' man. So here's ya choice." Gin mockingly raised one finger. "No' 1, ya go in an' try ta save tha' day, ya die, story over." Raising his second finger, he said "No' 2, ya run before Komamura ge's here. Th' momen' his reiatsu disappears, Aizen's gonna catch ya, and ya die anyway. If ya run now, I dunno if th guy's over there are gonna live."-Gin said, pointing at first Kira, and then Rukia, who Aizen was still holding onto. "Bu' li' a' said, tha's up ta ya, if ya figh' now, ya migh' delay this lon' enough f'r the captains ta save those two, bu' ya'll die firs', unless ya miraculously over power Aizen, whi' will never happ'n."

"Then the choice is obvious, I fight."-Yoshirou stated. Gin's grin seemed to falter at the prospect. "Ya su'? Tha's goin' ta be mighty disappointin' f'r me." "Obviously I'm sure, if defeating Aizen is the only path to save everyone, then that is what I will do. By the way, will you stop calling me kid? I'm older than you are."-Yoshirou simply stated. Gin didn't move for a second, before chuckling quietly to himself. "Scary, tha' determination o' yours is impressive, pi'y its gonna lead ya ta your death. Well…"-Gin said, pulling away from the tree he was leaning on. "I kno' im' no' on your si', bu' good lu', don't die too quickly, a' leas' try ta ge' an answer from Aizen befo' he kills ya." With that he waved, before disappearing. Turning back to the scene before him, he watched as Gin reappeared nearby Tosen, acting for the entire world like he was bored out of his mind.

**So this really was a trap for** **me** Yoshirou realised. **But from what Gin said, it seem's that Rukia isn't here as bait, so why was Aizen after her?** As he thought about this, it seemed Komamura finally reached the top of the hill. **Shit! I wasn't keeping track of his movements, I thought he would come up the stairs right by me, but he must have scaled the last gap by jumping to get closer to him!** As he watched, Komamura swung a powerful blow at Aizen, creating a dust cloud from the force of his blow. However, as the dust settled, the ground about Aizen crushed by the pressure from the swing, Yoshirou could see that Aizen had managed to stop the blow with his own sword (1) still holding onto Rukia with the other hand. **Wow, he stopped a swing that powerful?** Yoshirou wondered as he watched. "It has been a long time since I've seen your uncovered face, hasn't it? I wonder what this change of heart is, Komamura-kun?" **What?** Yoshirou wondered, before he looked again. Sure enough, Komamura was missing his trademark helmet, and it seemed underneath the massive headgear Komamura looked like a giant orange furred wolf. **So that's why his reiatsu seemed so different to me.**

"Why are you able to laugh like that, Aizen! I will never forgive you for plotting against us and betraying us." Turning slightly, he bellowed out-"You too, Tosen!" He then roared loudly, drawing back his fist before punching towards Aizen. Yoshirou was surprised as a massive arm descended from the sky, smashing into the ground where Aizen had been. Aizen had leapt clear of the attack. **He released his zanpakuto without calling its name?** Yoshirou thought in confusion.

_It's a Bankai ability, once you gain Bankai, your Shikai can be summoned without intoning its release phrase._

**Oh…** Yoshirou thought as he watched Komamura face off against both of the Captains. With **a shikai like that, I can't just jump in to assist or I will be crushed too!** Yoshirou thought, as he off hand noticed that Gin had winked in his direction, having held onto Rukia for Aizen. "Tosen! If you have an explanation, tell me!" However, Tosen remained silent. "You don't have one? Nothing? This is unfortunate, Tousen!"-Komamura shouted as he started to pull on his reiatsu. Aizen started striding over to Komamura. "Bankai!"-Komamura shouted, however, he suddenly stopped as he noticed that Aizen had walked in front of him. "Impossible! Aizen is still standing next to Tousen…" **What, no he isn't, he's right in front of you!**

_No, it's his illusion ability! Komamura couldn't see him!_

**Shit!** Yoshirou thought, preparing to charge in. However, he stopped himself when he saw the pose Aizen had taken. **No way! That's…!** "Hado no.90, Kurohitsugi."-Aizen calmly stated. Suddenly, Komamura was engulfed in a black box of reiatsu, spears seemingly piercing the block. As the spell finished, Komamura was revealed, covered in blood. He then fell to the floor, unconscious. **Crap, I didn't have a chance to even stop it! Thank god that the spell didn't reach full power, it's the only reason he is still alive.** Aizen turned to Kurosaki, saying "Kyouka Suigetsu's "Absolute hypnotism" is completely flawless. Even if you realize you are under it, it's impossible to escape it." "level 90 wi' Eisohaki? How scary. When did ya become able t' do somethin' like tha'?"-Gin asked. Aizen turned to him, walking over "No, it was a failure, not even a third of its destructive powers were released. It's difficult to control level 90 Kido after all. Now then…"-Aizen said, once again grabbing ahold of Rukia's neck piece. Turning to Kurosaki once more, he said "Sorry, I was in the middle of my conversation with you."

"Kurosaki!" a recognisable voice shouted out. Surprised, Yoshirou watched as the ryoka, plus one new shinigami, all ran over towards the fight. "Don't come!" Kurosaki shouted back at them. However, it seemed they were determined to try, before Gin walked in front of them. "Hey, hey, you shouldn' move."-Gin said, releasing his reiatsu in a massive wave. The Ryoka tried to repulse this reiatsu, but couldn't, some of them falling to the ground. **Seems he was being honest, he isn't killing without a reason. **Yoshirou noted. He then saw Aizen turn his back to Gin, instead turning to Rukia. However, not only had he turned his back to Gin, he also turned his back to Yoshirou. Realising the opening he had just received, he took it. Yoshirou quickly used shunpo, stepping the gap between himself and Aizen nearly instantly. Flying straight past Gin, he prepared to draw his zanpakuto, to slash Aizen with the draw, where he would be able to put the most speed into his blow (2).

However, his plan was interrupted by the only enemy he didn't count on, Tosen. He had never guessed Tosen would be able to see or hear his move, after all he had cleared the gap in one step, his reiatsu still hidden, Tosen shouldn't have noticed. But as Tosen appeared right in front of him, Yoshirou realised what the mistake was. He had passed through Gin's reiatsu force to reach Aizen, he had disturbed Gin's reiatsu with his own force. That disturbance Tosen had sensed, and he moved within the milliseconds that he had noticed, appearing right into Yoshirou's path. His zanpakuto drawn, Tosen cut straight through Yoshirou, sword passing through one side of his chest and out the other. However, Tosen was shocked, he had felt no resistance. He then felt an almighty blow to the head, as a second Yoshirou materialised out of nowhere to his left, smashing his fist into the surprised man's face. Tosen rocketed across the hill, barely correcting his fall in time to slide to a stop on one knee, his goggles smashed to pieces.

**Shit!** Yoshirou thought as he turned, hoping to god Aizen hadn't sensed the disturbance behind his back. But even though he turned, slicing the air with his drawn sword, that second that Tosen's intervention had caused to be spent was enough for Aizen to notice. Aizen was gone, standing further away near Gin; Yoshirou's surprise attack had been wasted. "Gin, I am quite sure I told you to watch for any intrusions."-Aizen said, turning to the smiling man. Gin turned, then quite literally jumped at seeing Yoshirou. "Whoa, I n'vr noticed 'im comin'! He mus' have been pretty fas' ta ge' by me so easily. Scary." **Nice acting, you practically told me "attack now" with your body language earlier **Yoshirou thought sarcastically. "Not to worry, it is but a minor set back."-Aizen said. "It seems we must deal with another intrusion, so many people are very rude." Turning Aizen asked-"And what bring's you here, 3rd seat Yoshirou-kun? I expected only Captains and Vice Captains to be disturbing me." **What, I thought Gin said he was after me… **Yoshirou thought confused, as Tosen rejoined the other two, his goggles disposed somewhere else. "I'm sorry that I did not stop the intrusion, Aizen. Please let me correct my mistake."-Tosen asked, stepping forward to confront Yoshirou. "Really think that's wise, Tosen? You won't be escaping with a little punch like that this time."-Yoshirou asked contempt obvious in his voice. **I'll take any advantages I can get, if he attacks enraged, I might be able to take him out fast.**

The provocation seemed to work, as Tosen drew his zanpakuto once again, preparing to attack. "Wait, Tosen."-Aizen ordered quietly. "There is no need to be wound up over such a little matter." Tosen froze, before sheathing his sword and bowing to Aizen. Aizen smiled, before saying "Sorry, Yoshirou-kun, may we have a minute? You might want to try seeing if your friends over there are all right, after all I will simply kill you if you try to leave or interrupt me." Yoshirou, realizing this worked to his advantage, nodded, before using shunpo to reach Kurosaki's side, not daring to turn his back upon his opponents. "Tch, what are you doing face down in the dirt Kurosaki?"-Yoshirou laughed lightly. Kurosaki seemed to not take the light tone so nicely. "What the hell are you talking about! I…"-Kurosaki started, before the pain in his wounds brought his attention back. "Listen, Yoshirou. Rukia is their target, I don't know why but they have been after her since the start… however they might be after something else. Thing's don't add up, if they wanted Rukia, they had her ten minutes ago. But he's been wasting time, chatting to me, facing another Captain, he's stalling for something. I don't know what, and I don't really care. I don't care what happens to me now, get Rukia out of here. If you do, they will probably chase you rather than attack anybody else, just get out of here safely and get some help from somebody, anybody really. I can't fight any more, and Renji is out cold completely, it's all up to you now."

Yoshirou sighed quietly, as he watched the three Captains scheming something a bit away. "I can't, they have a hostage here, you heard through that message they have Kira here right? She's my subordinate, I can't take Rukia. I could probably escape with her if I tried, but they would kill Kira. I wouldn't ask you to save Kira, sacrificing Rukia in turn, so don't ask me that."-Yoshirou said quietly. Kurosaki cursed under his breath. "Well, that glasses guy, Aizen was it? He stopped my Bankai with one finger; I don't think physical attacks are going to work." Yoshirou laughed-"If he tries that one, he's going to lose his finger, my shikai can cut through all materials with ease except another zanpakuto, I could even kill Yamamoto if I got a free shot at him, although that would never happen. Rest assured, he's going to have to use his sword to block me, he won't get a free shot on me like he probably did against you." Kurosaki looked surprised at that. "Good guess, he held my sword and sliced me while I couldn't stop him, but that's not all. He's fast, very fast. My Bankai increases my speed, but he at the very least matched me, he would have to in order to block my first attack so easily." "Stop worrying Kurosaki, you were half dead when you tried fighting him. Things will be different, I know his tricks now, as long as I steer clear of his Illusions I should be fine. Although, how he uses them I don't know."

"Sorry, Yoshirou-kun. If you don't mind, could you pay attention now?"-Aizen asked, having suddenly appeared at his shoulder. Yoshirou, surprised, threw himself forward. Upon hitting the ground, he used shunpo to move a bit further away. However, Aizen had made no move to pursue. Yoshirou had a quick look around. Further away, he could see that Gin was now holding onto Rukia, seemingly tying to get something in his hand to work. However, Yoshirou could tell he was only messing with whatever was in his hand, Gin was carefully trying to listen to the battle that was about to ensue. Tosen however, was now suppressing the Ryoka nearby with his own reiatsu. **Well, so far things aren't too bad. I have a lot of injured about me, but now I'm only going 1 vs 1 with Aizen. Gin seems intent to also delay; he's trying to hear whatever it was that he was talking about earlier. Tosen is also out, he's weak, I think he probably got injured by Kenpachi earlier. If he makes any sudden movements, Tansho and Haneko will deal with him. They probably can't kill a foe of his level, but the same is back at Tosen. In his injured condition, his Bankai is out of the question, and I doubt he can fight two foes simultaneously effective enough to stop them. The only question is…** Yoshirou finished as he drew his zanpakuto, facing Aizen. **Can I stop Aizen?**

Aizen stood there facing him, the usual smile across his face. Where that smile once reassured Yoshirou, he now loathed it, the traitorous smile of a backstabbing traitor. "It is such a pity that you came today, Yoshirou. I had simply planned to take the Hougyoku from Rukia, and leave Soul Society to rot. Instead, you came, and now I will have to unfortunately end your life."-Aizen said, shaking his head a tiny amount, as if it were a shame that he had to do this. "Screw that, Aizen-teme." Aizen seemed to raise his eyebrow at both the insulting nickname, and in what Yoshirou meant. "We both know that you planned to kill me from the start. You took Kira hostage to make sure I came, don't bullshit me with all this "pity" crap. You deliberately stayed up here even though all of Soul Society will be coming for you, waiting for me to get here. I don't know why you want me dead, but you're not going to kill me quite that easily." Aizen seemed to chuckle upon hearing this. "My my, what deduction skills you have, but it's a bit more simple than that. Kira tried to disrupt my teleportation spell, so she got caught up in it, ending up with her presence here. And I am still here simply because there is no reason why I should move. I wanted to share the genius of my simple plan with the young ryoka there, and the scenery is pretty nice from here, there's no reason why I should hide like some afraid animal." **What the, is that really all it is?** Yoshirou thought, shocked as Aizen finished laughing at what he had said.

_Don't be fooled, Aizen is practically a deceptive genius, who specialises in changing the minds of those about him to what he wants'. Don't forget, until just now he had succeeded in making all of Soul Society believe he was dead. He is a master of deception and lies, just trust in your own instinct rather than believing his forked tongue._

**Yeah, you're right. Still makes things more difficult though, if I mess up, I'm not going to end up on the ground unable to fight like Kurosaki, he's after me specifically, I'll be dead.** "Ah yes, that's what I researched, so it really is true that you wield the original light zanpakuto."-Aizen said, disrupting Yoshirou's train of thought. "The ability to consciously meld with the zanpakuto, surpassing the connection between normal shinigami and zanpakuto, yet also being much further apart since they are two souls rather than one. Characteristics familiar in both the original light and darkness zanpakuto's."-Aizen summarised, confusing Yoshirou. "Zanpakuto that are inherited from the bloodline, the only pair in all Soul Society that defy the rules set down by the person who first forged a soul into a weapon. Truly, an amazing specimen. It is such a pity that you and I found ourselves opposed, Yoshirou-kun. Had it not been for your former teacher, Tessai-san, thing's could have been very different." "What the hell are you talking about?"-Yoshirou asked, unsure as to what exactly Aizen was getting at. **Bloodline? Isn't that what Yoruichi was getting at earlier?**

"About how things could have been different? It's simple really. Years back now, I was interested in hollow research, trying to imbue particular abilities into hollows. The ability to hide their soul signature, the ability to instantly regenerate, the ability to destroy zanpakuto and many others. It was in testing one of these experiment's that I realised your potential. Before that point, I dismissed you as normal. 10 years in your squad and you were given the seat of the 18th level. Not impressive, no real talent, a slacker. I had no idea how you had even attained that seat, perhaps Tessai was getting a bit old I thought. However, during one of my experiment's, I saw your potential. The experiment was a success; I had successfully implanted the Menos ability to regenerate at high speed into a common hollow. The hollow successfully killed a shinigami of much higher strength than itself, and would have continued to kill the recruits that were there for the day. All around, a very satisfying result. Then you appeared, giving the recruit's a chance to escape. I was disappointed; the death's of those recruits would have weakened your squad considerably. However, I then became interested. You showed skill which I had not thought possible, Hakuda techniques that would never have been taught to a normal Kido user, complete incantation skipping, skills that even the greatest of Kido masters have trouble with, you even had the hollow on the ropes."

"I would have left it then, but the appearance of the young Kuchiki Byakuya interested me further. What was your connection to the grandson of one of the great Captains of Soul Society? Why would he even deem coming to your rescue of any importance to him? But even that paled in comparison to what came next. Your zanpakuto, the light elemental blade. I wasn't fully sure as to what it was back then, I had never heard of a light elemental zanpakuto, didn't even know they existed. But there before my eyes was the zanpakuto, and it was glorious, a power which far surpassed what you had shown beforehand. I was determined to obtain you, such power and talent hidden behind such a façade was a skill very much alike my own. However, Tessai had also seen this fight, and he clamped down upon you, determined to keep you hidden under his wing. I appealed to Tessai later, offering you the seat of 3rd seat within the 6th squad after having convinced Hirako Shinji, the then Captain of the 6th division of your worth. But he was resistant; he refused to let you go. I bet he never even made you aware of the offer right? Instead, he offered you the same seat within his own Corps, determined that you would not be taken from his side. At the time, I could not understand why, but now I do."

"The light zanpakuto is far more than just a normal zanpakuto. It is even far more than a unique blade. The twin sword of Ukitake-taichou, the Sougyo-no-Kotowari, is what I would consider a unique blade. However, yours surpasses even that. It is the only blade that is passed down via a family, alongside the darkness zanpakuto. It is proof that you…"-Aizen seemed to trail off there, finally having realised that he was describing too much. "All I am trying to convey is that had events gone differently, you would be standing beside me today, not before me. However, you have been a problem for my plans for too long. You saved the Ryoka that I tried to have killed, you saved the Captains I tried to have assassinated, even now you are delaying me as long as you can for your allies to arrive. Yoshirou Kenshin, you are too valuable an asset for Soul Society to hold on to, I will end your life today." Yoshirou felt like he had been hit with a sledge hammer, all of what Aizen had said fitted perfectly now. "So you're responsible for what happened 112 years ago? For the danger all of my friends were put in? Then I'm glad we are alone up here today…"-Yoshirou said, raising his reiatsu all the way up to it's maximum. Nearby, Kurosaki was forced to the floor by the pure energy Yoshirou was emitting. "I don't want to explain myself to the Sou-Taichou, he wouldn't appreciate it. But before the other Captains can get here, I am going to kill you!"-Yoshirou threatened.

"Just like Hitsugaya-kun, don't use such strong words; it will be embarrassing when you can't hold them."-Aizen stated. "Then let me prove I'm not just hot air! _Hado no. 63, Soren Soukatsui!"-_Yoshirou shouted, twin tunnels of fire collecting before his hands, before racing across the field, straight at Aizen. Aizen disappeared from where he was standing, appearing further to the left. "Impressive power, but such an easy-"-Aizen started to say, before he was frozen in place, a red aura surrounding him. _"Hado no. 88, __**Hiryugekizokushintenraiho!"-**_**Yoshirou shouted, now pointing his arms at Aizen's new location. Temporarily frozen in place, Aizen quickly said **_**"Bakudo no 81, Danku."**_** A massive shield of reiatsu formed in front of the incoming beam of electricity, barely finishing before they collided. However, Yoshirou did not let the spell explode from the contact, instead forcing even more reiatsu into the spell. The giant shield held for a second, before shattering entirely, the giant force of the beam overcoming it. The beam continued forward, aiming straight for the slightly surprised Aizen. However, Aizen forced his reiatsu out, breaking the Geki spell that held him down instantly, before literally diving out of the way of the blast, having not enough time to use shunpo. The cannon blast detonated upon where he had been standing, throwing nearly everybody on the hill to the ground, including its castor. The only man who remained upright was surprisingly Gin, who having watched the fight, had braced himself for the oncoming explosion.**

**(P.O.V change)**

"**Well well, whadya know? Seem's the kid has some figh' in 'im afta all."-Gin noted, having picked the fallen Rukia back up again. "I'm gla' I d'cided ta watch na. Bu' tha' kinda stuff ain' gonna be enough ta ge' Aizen down, the ki's jus' waistin reiatsu li' tha'. Now I'm mean' ta be getting this l'il thin' workin', bu' Aizen didn' tell me how ta use it, I can' jus' guess how it works!"-Gin said as he tried pressing the purple canister in his hand over and over again, having no success. "Am I mean' ta break th' thing? Naw, I can' do tha' unless I'm sure tha's how it works." However, he was surprised when he heard more noises from his left. "Seem's those guys tha' kid left over there have decided ta join in."-Gin said as he turned. Sure enough, over the other side of the hill, there was a big fight going on. However, Gin was surprised to see a fourth combatant. Apparently one of the Ryoka had been strong enough not to be knocked out by the force of their reiatsu, and had joined the other two shinigami in battling Tosen, firing massive blasts of reiatsu from his arm. It seemed they were all aiming to break past Tosen, but Tosen's shikai ability was impeding their progress each time, a seeming wall of blades forcing them to use shield spells and keep back. However, Tosen wasn't doing much better; he now had a few new injuries, small cuts and burns from spells that had hit their marks. "Wow, tho' guys the kid brough' along do know how to scrap, interestin'."-Gin mused to the silent Rukia, who was still yet to even reply.**

"**Gin, what exactly are you doing?"-Aizen asked from his other side. Turning around, Gin was astounded at the sight. Although Aizen was unharmed, his haori and top half of his robes were a mess. "Tha' kid actually hi' you!"-Gin said, almost in shock. "Almost, I broke out of his Bakudo at the last second, but I was hit by the wake of the spell. He cannot be taken lightly like I thought, that spell has surpassed the spell of his previous master, his Kido abilities may even surpass mine at this point."-Aizen stated. Gin was entirely shocked now, for Aizen to say that any skill of his was beaten by someone was rare, Aizen freely admitted he had no chance against the Sou Taichou, but against this kid? "Ya wan' me ta take him then?"-Gin asked. "No, it is not that I cannot defeat him, he doesn't have enough power to harm me, but he is drawing this out far too long, the Captains are getting very close, if we don't finish this now, we may have the Sou Taichou here."-Aizen straightened once more. "I am going to finish this with Kyouka Suigetsu."-he stated, before walking back towards the fight, where Yoshirou was struggling to pick himself back up from the ground. **His shikai? He really views this kid as needing his shikai to beat? **Gin thought **Scary. Very, very scary…** "And Gin? You need to put your reiatsu into your hand, before pushing the top."-Aizen said, before continuing. **Ah right, but I think I'm going to wait a little, this is getting immensely interesting.

(P.O.V change)

Yoshirou picked himself back up from the dirt, stumbling a little from the ringing in his head.** I put far too much into that spell; the explosions left my head scrambled… Now, I don't think Kido is going to cut it alone, I need to try and beat him with my shikai as well.** Yoshirou thought as he held his zanpakuto up. _"Akariotorou, Taiyoukousen_!" The katana extended, and thickened, taking its form as the 2h sword he was used to. The edges instantly started burning with light. **Wait…** Yoshirou thought, before willing the left edge to dissipate. **There, if he is that much stronger than me, I will need to put a hand on the edge, slicing my hand open does not sound too fun.** Aizen walked across the field towards him, but now his smile was gone. His face betrayed no emotion; he was concentrating on his target before him. "Ryoka boy, if you will, would you mind closing your eyes for a second?"-Aizen asked. "Why in hell would he need to close his eyes?"-Yoshirou asked, but Kurosaki suddenly shouted from behind him-"Yoshirou, don't look! It's his illusion ability!" However, Yoshirou was too slow. _"Kudakero, Kyouka Suigetsu." _Aizen intoned. Suddenly, all about Aizen seemed a bit distorted. **What the hell, Taiyou, can you see this?**

_Yes, I think we have been trapped in whatever ability he spoke of earlier._

**Shit!** Yoshirou thought, as he brought his shikai about before him. "I'm sorry, but this is over now. You are trapped within my Kanzen Saimin, you are finished now."-Aizen announced. Suddenly, before Yoshirou's eyes, Aizen seemed to split in two. **What the hell!** Yoshirou thought as one Aizen charged at him, the other standing still with his hands in the gesture sign for Kurohitsugi. **What's happening, there's two Aizens?**

_No, look! The further back Aizen looks hazy, the one charging at you is solid! The further back one has to be the illusion he was on about!_

**Are you sure? I can't really tell, they could both be the real thing, if you're wrong, we are dead!**

_We don't have a choice anyway, the charging Aizen is going to hit first!_

Yoshirou brought the shikai down, stabbing the ground, before ripping upwards with the sword, bringing up a huge amount of dirt in front of him like a storm. The Aizen in front of him slowed, but the second Aizen didn't even notice. Yoshirou brought his free hand forward before the dirt dissipated. Twisting his palm before him, Yoshirou shouted _"Hado no. 58, Tenran!" _A cyclone force, cantered about his rotated palm, blasted forward through the dirt. Both Aizens noticed the attack, throwing themselves out of the way in opposite directions, the closer Aizen jumping to the left, the further away Aizen jumping to the right. **Shit, I was hoping to get both with the same spell! **Yoshirou thought, as he turned to the further away Aizen. _"Bakudo no. 61,__ Rikujōkōrō!"-_He shouted, as beams of light appeared about Aizen, slamming into his body. However, he simply smiled back at Yoshirou, not even attempting to break the spell. **Your right, he was the fake!** Hearing Aizen charge from behind him, Yoshirou back flipped, dodging the stab from behind barely, only earning a slight knick on his arm. Aizen passed underneath him, turning to slash again. Yoshirou, now coming down from above, had the advantage of weight and his own Shikai weight abilities. Combined, he was able to force Aizen's sword down, returning Aizen the favor by lightly slicing the front part of his arm with the light edge. The sword's point ended up pointing at Aizen's leg. Yoshirou quickly intoned _"Hikari no Ken!"_ the tip of the sword shooting out. However, Aizen had used shunpo to move out of range, the blade like sheet of light merely sticking in the ground where he had been.

Yoshirou landed, looking back over at Aizen. The front part of his left arm trickled a tiny amount of blood down his shihakshou, the cut had literally been only a glance. **Crap, and that was with me having the advantage. **Yoshirou thought. **If he uses a downwards strike on me, I won't be able to use Taiyou's weight manipulation to stop the blow.** However, looking again, Yoshirou realised that there was a foreign expression on Aizen's face. A slight hint of surprise. "You blocked me?"-Aizen asked, as if rhetorically. "You saw me attack? How?...Ah yes I see how. Your soul difference. My zanpakuto captures your very soul in its illusion, however you and your zanpakuto are really two souls rather than one like in most shinigami, my shikai wasn't able to get full control. The illusion did work, you attacked the illusion form, but it failed to hide my attack… interesting…" "Heh, having doubts you can beat me then?"-Yoshirou asked. "No, the battle is already over, I cut you with my shikai." **Huh?** Yoshirou thought.

_Yoshirou! I've lost control of your reiatsu flow! It's gone completely erratic!_

**What the-?** Yoshirou thought. "My zanpakuto's main ability is in illusion, but that isn't all it can do, it has another, useful ability."-Aizen explained. "Although I have never had to actually use it, my sword can disrupt reiatsu flow in my opponent temporarily by literally disrupting their flow, alike throwing a pebble into water, the ripples will distort the calm flow. It is the same principle. It has very limited uses, the more powerful my foe, the less the effect. But for a pre-Bankai Captain Rank foe, it should last about ten minutes. I only need one to finish this."-Aizen said, crossing the distance between them nearly instantly, preparing to attack.

(P.O.V change)

"Ah, it's all ova' f'r the kid now. Now hes been hi', Kido ain' gonna work, nor Shunpo."-Gin said, disappointed. Rukia, who had been watching the fight with some confusion, said "That man was leaping and slashing at nothing, how come he's still fighting in that state?" Gin looked down at her, slightly confused, before saying. "Ah, ya mus' have seen the release did ya? You're under the illusion, he ain'. Wha' your seeing isn' wha's happenin', wha' hes seeing is wha's really going on."-Gin finished explaining, just leaving Rukia even more confused. "Now, since tha's all over, I bes' ge' this thing done."-Gin said, pulling on his reiatsu as he activated the capsule in his hand.

(P.O.V change)

"What the hell is that?"-Yoshirou asked as he watched multiple spikes explode out of the dirt about Gin. He was in a worse condition than before, in a mere half a minute, Aizen had added a bad slash to his chest, and a cut on his leg. Both injuries were leaking blood over his shihakshou. **Why aren't the wounds sealing? **Yoshirou thought as he once again tried to use his Kido, the pain from the injuries distracting him. _"Hado no.01, Sho!"_ But nothing happened, his Kido refused to work. "It does not matter what level of Kido you try, the basics or the strongest, Yoshirou-kun, you will not be able to use it."-Aizen stated as he held up his own hand. _"Hado no.63, Raikoho." _The lightning blast flew at Yoshirou, who was now defensless against Kido. He had already tried using shunpo, but it hadn't worked for him. Luckily, although his Hoho and Kido were sealed, his Zanjustu was still just fine. Increasing the reiatsu into his zanpakuto up, he slashed the spell in mid air, detonating the spell into light by the edge converting it; however he hadn't anticipated that the light edge about his blade would dissipate from it. **Shit! I can't reactivate the edge!** Yoshirou thought as Aizen shunpo'd in front of him, smiling lightly. "Goodbye, Yoshirou-Kun." Yoshirou leapt back, trying to put some distance in between them, but Aizen's sword had the weight and speed of the execution blade, cutting straight through Yoshirou's edgeless shikai, shearing it in half.

Blood flew everywhere; Yoshirou could feel nothing but pain as he fell to his knees. "Oh, you leapt back just in time to avoid getting cut in half? Impressive reactions." Aizen said. **Shit…this hurts…**Yoshirou thought as his blood spurted everywhere from his massive chest wound. He fell to the floor, his sword reverting to a broken katana, barely even conscious. "Yoshirou!"-he could hear multiple voices shout, some closer than others. Looking up, he could see that he had ended up close to both Kurosaki and Kira. Kira was still out cold, but he could see the shock and worry in Kurosaki's face. Behind him, he could hear Aizen turn away, probably heading towards his allies. "Fuck…this…I ain't dead…yet…" Yoshirou managed to mutter, grimacing as he dragged himself closer towards the other two, his body screaming at him in agony from his wounds stretching. Inside his head, he could barely hear Taiyou, she sounded like she was screaming from somewhere else far away, the words barely audible at all. **Don't shout…I can't hear you anyway…** After he reached the two, he started to pass out. He could hear Aizen's approach again, intent to finish him. At the last second he remembered something.

_(90 years ago)_

"_See, that's how it works!"-Yoshirou said as he showed his new device to Byakuya, who was apparently bored by it. "Those kinds of things are pretty easy to make, loads of people use them as defensive spells, I even have one I made myself here."-Byakuya answered. "No, you're missing the point! This ones a Hado spell, not a Bakudo!" That got the young Kuchiki's attention immediately. "That's impossible, you can't stabilise aggressive reiatsu flow inside an item!"-Byakuya said. Yoshirou just laughed as he pointed his arm away, pressing the release on the device. A blast of reiatsu flew out, a red ball of energy that exploded on contact with the nearby wall. "That's a Shakahou! I almost can't believe it!"-Byakuya said, mouth agape. "Hah, I should take a picture of your face, Ginrei would find that hilarious!"-Yoshirou noted. "Try that and your dead."-Byakuya growled back. "Bah, and I was going to give this device to you, screw you."-Yoshirou answered. Byakuya seemed interested by the prospect. "How about a trade then?"-he asked, reaching inside his own robes for a small cube. "Your little device for this one?"_

Present

**I swear to god, if you were tricking me about what this was…I'll make sure I kill you in my next life**. Yoshirou thought as he reached inside his robes. The old cube was still there, he had picked it up that morning, having forgotten what it actually was. He had kept it as a good luck item for no real reason. It may now be the key to saving his life. **Heh, saving myself? I came here to save everyone, and all I can do now is save myself? That's fucking disgraceful…**Yoshirou thought as he activated the cube. Just as Aizen was about to reach him, a powerful barrier magic activated about Yoshirou, Kira and Kurosaki. Glowing orange, it halted Aizen's approach.

(P.O.V change)

Aizen was feeling pretty good; all of his plans were coming to fruitation about him. Behind him, Gin was just extracting the Hougyoku from Rukia's body, and before him, his greatest threat was lying there, slowly bleeding to death. Tosen wasn't doing so well, he was only barely staving off the assault from the combined group of Yoshirous men and the large Ryoka. The moment Yoshirou had fallen, both men had released their own shikai's, elemental attacks of ice and fire flying across the field at Tosen, who was barely avoiding his own demise now, rather than attempting to kill his enemies. The renewed combined assault seemed like it was going to be too much for Tosen, It was only going to be another minute before he was probably overwhelmed. **It doesn't matter, I only ever included him so he could be a pawn anyway, revenge makes a man so easy to twist to your cause.** However, he had a puzzling problem before him. A powerful barrier had erected itself about his target. **That cannot be one of his own making** Aizen thought**. His reiatsu is still disrupted from Kyouka Suigetsu's effect, so the source of the reiatsu must be nearby…** "Aizen!"-Gin suddenly called out from behind him. Using shunpo, he avoided a blow that was aimed for his Saketsu. **A sword art that aims for the Saketsu and Hakusei, only one man in Soul Society uses that style of combat.**

Aizen landed, looking at his new opponent. Bleeding badly from numerous wounds, carrying a shocked Rukia, yet still standing tall and proud, his broken zanpakuto aimed where Aizen had been, Byakuya Kuchiki had arrived. (3) "Broken or not, that zanpakuto could have pierced me had I not been careful. Well done Byakuya, you truly grace the name of Kuchiki with your skill. But now you have lost the element of surprise, just like he did before you." "Enough traitors, you shall face me now."-Byakuya announced, releasing Rukia. "Nii-sama…"-Rukia started to say, but Byakuya said "Your questions will wait until after I have finished this." Holding his broken sword up parallel, surprisingly the blade reforming before Aizen's eyes. "You shall answer for the crime of betraying Soul Society."-Byakuya announced coldly. "You reactivated your zanpakuto with simply your conviction? Surprising, I'm guessing this barrier is also your doing?"-Aizen asked, indicating the orange spell behind him. "I wonder, is it the conviction to punish me as a criminal, or is it the conviction to protect that man?" "It does not matter. Chire, Senbonzakura!"-Byakuya intoned, his katana disintegrating into hundreds of shards. Beside them, Yoshirou struggled to say something, swinging his arm to get Byakuya's attention, but it didn't come out clearly enough for Byakuya to hear. However, Aizen managed to hear it. "Behind…you…!"

**Yes indeed** Aizen thought as he aimed for Byakuya's back. **The one you're aiming for is an illusion.** However, Aizen found his blade blocked by a storm of petals. **What?** The blades weren't enough to completely stop the blow though, but it softened the blow enough so that the blade only bit into Byakuya's arm, instead of cutting through it. Aizen then realised he had a finger pointing at his face. "Hado no. 04, Byakurai!"-Byakuya intoned. Aizen couldn't have dodged at that distance, it was impossible with Byakuya's timing. However, there was no need to, the spell didn't activate. Byakuya's face showed surprise at the lack of effect from his Kido, before he was suddenly impaled from behind. "Ikorose, Shinso."-Gin said, standing further away, before retracting the blade from Byakuya's back. Byakuya stood for a moment, shocked by the turn of the situation, before falling to his knee's, nearly hitting the ground completely. "Nii-sama!"-Rukia cried out, trying to support him. **How did he know I was attacking from behind?** Aizen wondered. **The warning Yoshirou gave was too quiet for Byakuya to hear, how…ah.** Aizen realised as he remembered Yoshirou flailing his arm to get Byakuya's attention. **Not flailing, signalling. A signal that only Byakuya would recognise that would tell him his enemy was behind him.** Hearing a cracking noise from behind him, Aizen's second suspicion was confirmed. **As I thought, the barrier was connected to Byakuya.** Aizen noted as before him the barrier shattered. "Yoshirou-kun, even a few seconds from your death and you still impede me? Tenacious, to say the least. Now let me repeat my message, goodbye Yoshirou-kun." Aizen said, raising his sword to finish Yoshirou off.

However, a second foe appeared, grabbing his sword arm with one hand, holding a sword to his throat with the other. "Don't move or I'll cut your head off."-a female voice from behind him said. Realising that he really had been caught unawares too many times today, Aizen wondered as to why Gin had yet again let another person past him, it was as if Gin was hoping somebody would kill him just for fun. However, after sensing the reiatsu behind him, he realised that this time Gin hadn't let his last foe past him willingly; it was that this particular foe was a bit too fast for him to stop. "Soi Fon-taichou I presume?" Aizen asked, turning his head to try and see the Captain. However, although he missed seeing her, what he did see surprised him. Gin was standing stock still, a pair of swords crossed before his throat held by a pair of identical shinigami. Tosen was lying defeated on the ground further back, his foes haven proved too much for him. The large Ryoka was approaching as well, intent on helping his friend. "I said don't move, or I will take your life. I already feel tempted to just end it here, don't give me an excuse."-Soi Fon reminded him, the blade nicking his throat, drawing a trickle of blood. Hmm, theres still time before we can go, I'll have to play complacent. "How can you be sure this is not an illusion you have grabbed, that you threaten so surely?"-Aizen questioned, hoping perhaps he could make her hesitate, give him an opening to break free. "Easily, an illusion can't kill someone, so you must be the real thing."-Soi Fon noted.

(P.O.V change)

Yoshirou could feel the pain in his body lessening slowly as Taiyou started to regain control of his abilities. Raising his head slightly, he could see Aizen was still standing before him, sword poised as if to strike, but he was being forced still by Soi Fon. "About time you woke up, idiot."-Soi Fon noted, looking down at him. "Sorry…just felt kinda sleepy…"Yoshirou tried to joke, but his condition didn't make it seem all that funny. He heard somebody "Yoshirou!" from further away. Looking over, he was surprised to see that not only had the twin's successfully defeated Tosen, but they had also restrained Gin, although judging from Gin's lack of wounds, he hadn't exactly struggled to be free. **Good…seem's everybody is safe…god this still hurts.**

_Wel- -at did y- expe-? You- injur-s were pretty severe, you're lucky you're still alive._

**Ah, I can hear you now, you doing alright?**

_Not really, perhaps you didn't notice, but you ended up having me broken in half, so I'm not feeling the best either. However, it looks like that trick Aizen used is wearing off, I've managed to seal the worst wound barely, but you've lost a lot of blood, your not getting off the ground unless somebody carries you._

**God that sucks…** Suddenly, more reinforcements arrived. A giant man seemed to literally fall out of the sky, destroying the ground about where he landed. At the same time, Yoruichi joined Soi Fon beside Aizen. "Phew, seems you guys have everything under control already."-Yoruichi noted. "Oi, Yoruichi! I came here looking for a good scrap and everybody's already taken! What the hell!"-the loud giant shouted in a female voice. **Eh?** Yoshirou thought, before he realised there was a woman standing on the giant's shoulder, the voice had come from her. "Well, you should come faster next time!"-Yoruichi called back. Then, turning to Aizen, she said-"This is as far as you go." Aizen seemed surprised by the statement. "What do you mean?" "Can't you tell Aizen? You no longer have a place to run to."-Yoruichi finished. Suddenly all about them, shadow's seemed to materialise from nowhere, landing on the hill and taking the form of the majority of the Gotei 13 assembled might. Looking about, Yoshirou could see that Ukitake and Kyoraku were both present, with minimal wounds, the Sou Taichou also nearby, albeit with no injuries. **Good, they didn't end up killing each other… **Yoshirou thought. Over to the side, he could see Matsumoto relieve his two men from restraining Gin. The twin's ran to his side, taking their positions by each side, before turning back to the confrontation. **Not even a hello? Bastards…** Yoshirou joked in his head. Then again, all of his concentration was also on the situation ahead of them.

"It's over, Aizen"-Yoruichi stated, however this only served to draw a small chuckle from him. "What's so funny?"-Yoruichi asked aggressively. "I'm sorry; it's just that it's time…" Yoruichi seemed to recognise what he meant, as she suddenly shouted-"Get away from him, Soi Fon!" Soi Fon was surprised for a second, before doing as she was ordered. No sooner than she had jumped back, a sudden light seemed to envelop Aizen. Yoshirou looked up, confused, before seeing that the light originated from the sky. "Impossible!"-Ukitake exclaimed, before the sky above them seemed to rip, forced open by giant hands. Out of the hole, multiple giant hollows forced themselves out. "Menos Grande!"-Soi Fon exclaimed in surprise. "Gillians? Just how many of them are there?"-Omaeda cried out in fear. "No… there's something behind them!"-a man with a scarred face exclaimed. True enough, behind the Gillian was a massive eye, seemingly half closed. Suddenly, two more beams of light seemed to slam down, one surrounding the unconscious body of Tosen, the other slamming down where Gin was, barely avoiding hitting Matsumoto. "Tha's a lil unfortunate. If only ya had hel' on a lil longer…"-Gin said, before turning to the surprised woman. Yoshirou noticed that his perpetual grin was gone, actually replaced with a semblance of a sad face. "Good bye, Rangiku. I'm sorry."-he said, and Yoshirou felt he could actually believe those words.

Suddenly about the three traitors, the earth seemed to split, the broken rocks rising along with the traitors up towards the crack in the sky. "Trying to run away?"-one of the Vice Captains said, drawing his zanpakuto. "Stop!"-Yamamoto called out, bringing the man to an immediate halt. "That light is called Negacion. Menos use it when they are saving one of their own. It's over once they are engulfed in the light. The inside of the light is its own impenetrable world. Everyone who has fought a menos knows this. The moment the light came down, it became impossible to even touch Aizen." "Wait, I can."-Yoshirou said, struggling to lift his body. The twins quickly grabbed his arms, helping him to his feet. "If it's Negacion, I can break it."-Yoshirou repeated. "Anything that is based about light energy, I can control, I've done it before." Yamamoto looked over, before shaking his head. "No, you cannot. Your zanpakuto is broken, using its abilities will be impossible in your current state." Across the way Ukitake stepped forward. "You've even sunk so far to join with the Menos. For what purpose?"-Ukitake demanded to know. "For greatness."-Aizen simply replied. "Have you really sunk so low, Aizen?" "You're too proud, Ukitake. From the very start, no one was standing in heaven. Not you, not me, not even god."-Aizen said, slowly removing his glasses from his face. Running a hand through his hair, he said "However, that emptiness in Heaven which is so very hard to endure, shall end." Crushing his glasses between his fingers, he finished-"From here on, I will stand in Heaven."

"Farewell, the Shinigami, farewell human Ryoka boy, and farewell Yoshirou Kenshin." Turning to face Yoshirou's direction, he indicated his arm, where the tiny trickle of blood ran down. "I have never been harmed in combat before this day; you were the first to ever succeed in harming my body. For a shinigami, you were truly interesting. I look forward to the day when I shall kill you on the battlefield."-Aizen finished as he vanished within the crack in the sky, the hole sealing behind him.

* * *

**Well, the last proper action chapter over, I may do a omake fight next chpater if I feel up to it (Anybody want to see Kenpachi substitute Yoshirou in for target practice instead of Ichigo?) Well, writing this has been pretty fun, I hope people actually enjoyed this story. I'm sorry that the romance aspect was kinda not brought to fruitation in the end, if I do another arc, I might try doing it properly there, who knows? Anyhow read, review, suscribe, whatever ya want lol**

**(1)All perceptions are P.O.V in my story, which includes the effect of Kyouka Suigetsu, whoever is the current P.O.V will see it as they are affected by it. That is why although in the canon storyline, Aizen blocked Komamura's blow with his hand, in actuality he used his sword in my storyline.**

**(2) Sword Style- Iaidō: For all who know it, the Iai (shortened term) is the art of striking with the draw of your sword, this is the style Yoshirou attempted to use, hoping to get Aizen before he could react.**

**(3) In this scenario, Gin had not been ordered to kill Rukia yet, since Aizen was focused on Yoshirou, Byakuya appeared, grabbing her, and attacking Aizen. The reason why he is combat able is because he wasn't stabbed by Shinso like he was in the canon Bleach story, but his zanpakuto is still broken due to fighting Kurosaki.**


	24. Chapter 24 Aftermath

**New chapter up! Sorry about any of the delay on this one, I had a bit of confusion over whether my account was working or not, but gladly I discovered it is. This one's just a short one (well for my standards) but it's all to do with the hillside following the battlefield, nearly everything depicted here is changed from the original, including the fact that it proceeds for a while after Byakuya apologises to Rukia, mostly a mix of seriousness and some comedy. Also with this chapter i've finally decided upon the romance pairing, sorry for all who were expecting romance throughout before now, it's still going to be rather slow paced since I don't have a damn clue about how to do romance bits. Well this arc is almost over, I am going to probably take more time on the next arc, perhaps improve my writing style, I dunno.**

**Regardless, here's the story!**

**IMPORTANT: I'm going to start my chapter tomorrow, but I need to know tonight whether people are interested in learning Yoshirou's past or not right now. I will either write the majority of the bare details in my next chapter (the best bits are going to be saved till later), or I can keep a lid on it for a bit longer, say till just prior to the winter battle, anybody who likes this story and want's to choose whichever will appear, please message me whichever is prefered.**

* * *

The hill was a mass of activity as the 4th squad tried to administer aid towards all the injured upon the hill. The list was rather large; Byakuya was in a critical condition from the combined injuries of his fight with Kurosaki and being impaled by Gin's sword. He was surrounded by emergency relief squad men, along with Rukia, who was struggling to be by his side, but impended by another 4th squad so that she didn't interrupt the aid he so desperately needed right now . Komamura has actually not been as badly injured as it was feared, due to his massive size, what was thought to be critical injuries were just deep slashes for him, he was a blood covered mess, but he was in no danger of death. Even now, he was stumbling away, insisting to the men about him that he was fine. Further away, men started to carry Renji away on a stretcher, his emergency surgery having been completed. Chad had gotten slightly injured during the struggle with Tosen, apparently in protecting Yoshirou's men from Tosen's attacks, and was being tended to by a nervous 4th squad member. On Yoshirou's insistence, the twins themselves had already left to take care of the squad, taking the still unconscious Kira with them. It seemed it would still be a while before she could wake up. Kurosaki was being healed by Inoue rather than the 4th squad members, her unique ability working far faster than their own. She had also offered to heal Yoshirou, but he had refused due to having stabilised himself earlier. He had also turned down the 4th squad members, but Yoruichi had forced him to lie down and was using her healing skills to help him.

"You do know I can just heal myself later?"-Yoshirou asked exasperatedly, but Yoruichi had ignored him. "Your opinion doesn't really matter too much to me; you're injured so you're getting treated alright? Besides, you're overestimating yourself; you are in as much a critical condition as Byakuya, if not worse, Aizen didn't exactly hold back in his attempt to kill you, it's only pure luck that your heart wasn't hit. A normal shinigami, Captain or not, would have bled to death before now, thank your zanpakuto for the fact your alive at all."-Yoruichi finished. Yoshirou took a look at the wound himself, and grimaced. He was so glad that Taiyou could not only stop the bleeding, but halt the pain. The wound was massive, multiple ribs were sheared through, one of his lungs had been pierced, light shining through the hole as Taiyou's ability tried to support the organ. **That's why I had trouble speaking earlier** Yoshirou realised I **could only speak properly after Taiyou sealed the injury.**

"How is it you seem to be in the middle of just about everything nowadays?"-Soi Fon asked from nearby, Yoshirou guessed she was hanging about waiting for Yoruichi. "You would have thought an idiot would have known to keep away when he's being targeted by Captains, but you ran into the trap blindly. Seriously, how stupid can you get?" "Yeah, enough of your concern Soi, you never learnt to speak nicely did you?"-Yoruichi said. Yoshirou just laughed, he was used to this kind of treatment from Soi Fon. "Well I figured you guys were all busy duking it out so somebody had to deal with this, next time you should come faster, a second slower and I would have been dead."-Yoshirou replied. "Not saying I'm not grateful for having my ass saved of course." Soi Fon just rolled her eyes at that, before walking away to where her Vice Captain was blubbering, apparently traumatized by everything that has happened that day.

"Ah, speaking about coming faster…"-Yoruichi started with a down cast expression. "I might not be holding onto the title of Shunshin much longer." Yoshirou was confused at that statement, before Yoruichi explained. "After our little… discussion, Soi Fon and I headed back towards the Soukyoku hill to stop Aizen. Nothing happened then, I was slowing down to keep pace with her, the expected case. However, after I started discussing with her what Aizen's aims were, after I said it was possible he was trying to lure you there and kill you, her speed suddenly jumped. I couldn't keep pace with her, and she ended up arriving at the hill before I could, that's why I arrived after her. I know I might be out of practice, but she nearly doubled in speed, I just don't get it…" However, no sooner than saying it, some kind of realization came to Yoruichi. She turned her head to look at the distant Soi Fon, who had just punched her Vice Captain, before turning back to Yoshirou, who looked far too chipper for a man who should be on the verge of death. She laughed to herself, causing Yoshirou to be confused. "Heh, I get it. Never would have thought that…heheh."-Yoruichi said, finishing with another chuckle at the strange look Yoshirou was giving her.

However, before Yoshirou could question her, another arrival interrupted them. Unohana landed on the hill aboard her Zanpakuto. After a quick discussion with her 3rd seat, she looked about the hill towards who she should aid. Seeing Yoshirou, she quickly headed to him first. "Hey Unohana, nice to see your alright."-Yoshirou said. "Why is it always you who makes a mess of themselves?"-Unohana asked, preparing to take over for Yoruichi, but Yoshirou interrupted her, saying-"I'm fine for now, it just looks ugly, all the bleeding's already stopped. It's Byakuya that need's the help, deal with him." Unohana hesitated for a second, she knew the severity of his wound, had it been a normal case, saving his life would be very unlikely from a wound of that severity. However, the fact that he could speak at all proved he was stabilised, not many people could manage speaking at all with a hole through their lung. That and one other thing made her change her mind and head for Byakuya. Due to how he was lying, Yoshirou could not see behind him. He was therefore unaware that the Sou Taichou had taken a seat on a rock very close to his location; it was the glance from him that told her to respect the injured mans wishes. She was unsure as to why the Sou Taichou was watching over him, but she had more important things to do.

Arriving at Byakuya's side, she dismissed the crowd surrounding him as she linked her own reiatsu to the healing barrier set up about him. However, before she could continue, she was interrupted a second time. Byakuya was trying to say something. "Please…call Rukia…for me…"-he said in a quiet voice, unable to master enough volume to call her over himself. She turned about to the waiting girl, still held by the 4th squad member, saying "Kuchiki Rukia-san, please come here. Kuchiki-taichou is calling for you." Rukia seemed to start with surprise, before walking over to Byakuya's side. He was unable to turn his body, so he resorted to asking-"Rukia, are you there?" Kneeling beside him, Rukia answered-"I'm here, nii-sama…" "Rukia, there is something I must tell you…it is a 50 year old story that I have put off telling you for too long…"

(After Explanation (1))

Rukia was simply shocked at the story she heard, but kept silent as Byakuya continued-"I will always carry Hisana's memories with me, but I made two promises I should not have. When your execution was decided, I did not know which path I should follow. I chose the wrong path, I followed the promise I made by my parents grave, I have wronged them too many times, I thought it would be the worst thing possible to wrong them once more… but…" With this he turned, looking at both Yoshirou and Kurosaki. "But I had others who showed me the right path, my friend who forced me once more into conflict with myself. He made me feel the emotions I needed to see, the ones that would let me question myself once more, the love I felt for my wife, the sorrow of seeing her life lost and her final wish not completed as she lived, and with that the will to see you live conflicted within me. It was the words of the Ryoka that finally had me change my decision, the one who said he would fight the rules had he been in my place, that he would protect those he cared for rather than follow the laws. Kurosaki Ichigo…Yoshirou Kenshin…Thank you…" Yoshirou kept silent instead of replying, knowing that he should let Byakuya finish. Kurosaki seemed to be of like mind.

Rukia was looking down at Byakuya, a sad expression on her face from realising just what kind of trauma her brother had been through. Whatever she had suffered, it seemed he had felt twice as bad again. "Rukia…"-Byakuya called, weakly struggling to raise his hand to her. Rukia took the offered hand, holding it close to herself, as Byakuya said "…I'm sorry…" the air seemed to still for a small while, the wind simply blowing about them lightly. Rukia suddenly realised his grip had slackened slightly, looking up in surprise, she realised he had fallen asleep. "Thank you…nii-sama."-Rukia whispered as she carefully put his arm beside his body. She was then ushered out of the range of the healing barrier by Unohana, who wanted to get back to healing him as soon as possible.

"Aww how cute, I haven't seen him act like that since he was with Hisana."-Yoshirou noted, gaining Rukia's attention. "Ah, Yoshirou…-san?"-Rukia asked, unsure as to how to refer to him. "Well, as of earlier it's meant to be Kenshin-Taichou, but that sounds goddamn awful, I'll probably kill the person who calls me that. Just call me Yoshirou, formality is for boring people, even Byakuya doesn't use a formal tone to me."-Yoshirou replied off hand. Rukia walked to nearby him, seeing the terrible wound he had sustained. Noticing her face, Yoshirou quickly said-"Don't feel responsible, it's true this happened trying to help you, but Aizen wasn't just after you, he wanted me dead. My injuries are from trying to save my own life, not yours. If you want to act that way towards anyone, do it to Kurosaki, he was the one risking his life to save yours." Rukia nodded slightly, but her face told Yoshirou that she wasn't about to give up on taking the blame anyway, saying-"Thank you for trying to help anyway, Aizen could have done a lot more to us if you didn't have his attention, you probably saved mine and everyone else's lives indirectly" Yoruichi didn't seem to enjoy being ignored, nor somebody getting in the way of her trying to heal him. "Look, thank him after he's patched up, if you didn't notice, that wounds a rather nasty one, makes Byakuya look like he received a love tap in comparison." That earned Yoruichi a rather nasty look from the young girl, but she continued none the less. "If people keep getting in my way, it's gonna take that much longer before we can move him, I'd rather get off this hill before sundown."

"Yoruichi, stop being such a bitch!"-Kurosaki called across angrily. Since his healing was almost complete, he seemed to have regained his normal attitude towards Yoruichi, a mixture of respect for her abilities and dislike for her attitude. "Shut up Ichigo, this conversation isn't for kids who can't even look at a naked woman without exploding with colour."-Yoruichi called back over, causing both Rukia and Inoue look suspiciously at him, alongside Soi Fon, who had just returned from dismissing her Vice Captain, glaring with downright fury at Kurosaki. "Wha-…"-Kurosaki started to respond, before realising if he made another noise, he was just going to receive more butchering from the annoyed woman. "Look, stop fighting over me could you? I didn't really need the healing in the first place."-Yoshirou said exasperatedly. "Say's the talking zombie"-Soi Fon noted. **Does she always have to insult me? Can't she find a better way to express concern? **Yoshirou wondered, before realising she probably couldn't. "Look, like Yoruichi said, if you want to talk, it can wait. After all I'm a shinigami, I'll be staying in Soul Society for a lot longer than Kurosaki, he's probably going to return to the human realm after he's healed. Just put off the questions until then, spend what time you can with your _"Hero"_ who came to save you."-Yoshirou said to Rukia, internally smiling at the success of getting the young Kuchiki to blush at the naming of Kurosaki as her hero. However, he didn't expect the stab of jealousy that he sensed from Inoue's reiatsu. **Oh?**

_Nice work stirring up the bad feelings in the other girl idiot, you really don't think of everybody who might be affected by your decisions do you?_

**Oops, sorry…**

"Well, you seem to be enjoying yourself, Yoshirou Kenshin." A gravelly voice from behind him announced. Yoshirou jumped slightly as he recognised the voice of the Sou Taichou. "You're lucky to have survived today; I thought one of the requirements to become a Captain was to know your limits? Clearly you do not, that is rather worrying, and you chose to engage the traitors without significant force to take them down. Why?"-Yamamoto said in a condescending tone, as if he addressed an upstart child. Yoshirou wasn't cowed though. "Yamamoto-san, you know my duty is to my squad. Aizen had already taken one of my squad member's hostage; I could not afford to wait for significant men to arrive. I did also have a plan to take them down, but I did not expect Komamura to attack immediately rather than rendezvous with me, when he attacked I lost all advantage, I couldn't move to support him. I will admit it was foolish of me to only make a temperamental plan, and to attack when I shouldn't have, but too much was at risk, I would not let him take my subordinates life, Rukia's life, or any of the Ryoka's lives. If my life bought them theirs, then it was well used."

Yoshirou wasn't sure if Yamamoto was happy with his answer, or disappointed with it, Yamamoto spoke again-"You are being naïve, sacrificing one life for many is commendable, but you treat yours with so little worth. You seem to forget your responsibility as the new Captain of the Kido Corps. With your death, your squad would have been disbanded; we would have lost a significantly powerful force and would have stepped even more into Aizen's hand. Do not take your life and weigh it against the few who it could save, your death would have caused instability across all of Soul Society, do not think you are permitted to risk the peace of Soul Society so!" "If being a Captain will restrain me that much, then you can take the shitty title back, there is no point to being a Captain if all that will happen is that you lose the ability to protect those you care for!"-Yoshirou challenged back. There was a collective in taking of breath from all those around the area in shock of what he had said, even Kurosaki who was not a part of the Gotei 13 knew it wasn't wise to annoy this old man before them. Nobody had ever heard somebody challenge the Sou Taichou so brazenly.

"Yamamoto-Sou-Taichou, he is injured and clearly not in his right mind-"-Unohana quickly said, trying to defend Yoshirou, even she was shocked by what he had done. "Don't try defending me Unohana-san, my mind is as clear as ever, and I mean every word I said."-Yoshirou said coldly. "I don't want such a position if all it will do will stop me from protecting what I want to, I would rather be some homeless in Rukongai than be forced to expend others lives to protect myself!"-Yoshirou challenged once again. He half expected the Sou Taichou to perhaps kill him on the spot, but he didn't expect what did happen. The Sou Taichou started laughing in a low tone. "And that is exactly why I wanted you to become a Captain. Your desire to protect everything you can is perhaps the strongest driving force I have ever seen behind a shinigami, you have indeed matured from that brat I met all those years ago. I shall not accept your resignation; you are the Captain of the Kido Corps, Yoshirou Kenshin. I shall offer you a different ultimatum, become strong enough so that you will be able to protect everyone! Stand forward and crush those who would endanger what you protect! Do not let yourself be defeated! Do not be so weak that death will enclose upon you! If you can do that, then you will never have to risk another's life for yourself."

Yoshirou smiled slightly, before nodding "Yeah, I think I can do that. If I do, will you tell me what Aizen was talking me about? What he meant by why he had to kill me, and just who I really am?" Yamamoto's eyes opened wide suddenly in surprise, he had not expected to be asked that. However, he hid his surprise quickly, saying "As long as you don't break the laws of Soul Society again, then yes, you shall have the information you want." Soi Fon seemed to take this to mean trying to fight her, but Yoshirou was more suspicious. **You don't think he could have known all along what we did, do you Taiyou?**

_The Sou Taichou misses very little, including the fact that your eyes change colour whenever we use our powers, if he had looked at you once during the executions he would have known immediately that you were up to something._

**Then why did he not try to stop me…?** Yoshirou wondered as Yoruichi started to apply bandages over his now partially sealed wounds. At nearly the same time, Inoue seemed to finish healing Kurosaki's wounds, who was picking himself off the ground, brushing the dirt from his robes. "Ah, what's up with the clothes Kurosaki? They look kinda like Zangetsu's robes."-Yoshirou asked. Kurosaki looked at him confused, before he said "I thought everybody's Bankai would change an aspect of their clothing? Renji had that cowl when he summoned his Bankai." "Really? I didn't see his Bankai. Anyway, Byakuya's doesn't change his clothing, nor Mayuri, Komamura or Soi Fon." Upon the last name, Soi Fon whipped about, surprise on her face. "When did you see my Bankai?"-surprise evident in her features. However, Yoshirou laughed out, saying-"I didn't, but now I know for sure yours doesn't change your clothes either." However, he abruptly stopped laughing upon realising Soi Fon had positioned her shoe in the air above his balls. "Hey! Just a joke!"

Before Soi Fon could make good on her threat, Unohana called over, saying "I have finished stabilising Byakuya, we can now move him." Upon her indicating, multiple squad 4 members who had been standing by came forward and lifted the stretcher he was on. Rukia quickly walked over to the men as they went to leave, following them along the hill. "Hey, you not going with her?"-Yoshirou asked Kurosaki, but he shook his head. "Nah, I think she needs some time with him alone anyway. Besides, we can't get going until everyone's off the hill so we are just waiting on you now." "Well I would have gotten off the hill ages ago if it weren't for Yoruichi forcing me to stay still."-Yoshirou noted, receiving a rather sharp poke in the side from said woman. "Well you can stop whining now, that's the last bandage on."-Yoruichi said as she stood back up, stretching her back from having sat down too long. Yoshirou looked down at his body to see that he was practically an Egyptian mummy, his torso covered from top to bottom in bandages. "All right then, we can finally get going then!"-he said eagerly, but quickly realised that as willing as he was to move, his body had practically shut down on him. "…err a hand anyone?"-Yoshirou asked, before he felt himself roughly pulled up from one side.

Surprised, he looked over to see that it was Soi Fon who had helped him up, albeit she had gone for the speedy approach rather than being careful due to his wounds. "I could carry him?"-Chad seemed to suggest, but he was laughed at by Yoruichi. "Knowing him, he'd rather die than have a bloke carry him throughout Soul Society, nice as the offer was Chad."-she said as she helped take the other arm to support Yoshirou fully. "I'm surprised that the first one to help him was Soi again, where's the rest of your manners?" Yoshirou was also slightly surprised that she had helped, Soi Fon was not the type to wait on others or stop to help those who would hinder her, yet here she was helping carry him. **Speaking of that, what was it Yoruichi was going on about earlier about Soi Fon? She didn't exactly explain it all too well.** "Hey, I thought it was you who wanted to get moving. So get walking or I'll just drop you."-Soi Fon stated, waking him from his thoughts. "Ah yeah, okay." Yoshirou realised as he got his limbs to start moving. They walked along for a while, Kurosaki and his friends chatting excitedly behind them, Unohana and her relief squad carrying Byakuya's stretcher further ahead, tailed closely by Rukia. The Sou Taichou had seemingly disappeared, perhaps only waiting to make sure everyone was alright.

_Was it me, or was it more that he was waiting for YOU to recover?_

**Maybe, he could have been just as easily waiting for the other two.**

_But he was sitting near you, not Byakuya or Kurosaki_

**Was he? I couldn't tell. Probably wanted to just have his little go at me, I'm surprised Soi Fon hasn't had a go at me for challenging her earlier.** Realising this, Yoshirou said quietly-"Hey Soi Fon…"-getting her attention. "Sorry about threatening you earlier…"-Yoshirou hesitantly said, but received a light whack on the back of his head. "Idiot, if I was still annoyed by that I would hardly be helping carry you now, would I? Besides, you tried to tell me earlier that there was something wrong, and I didn't accept that you may have been right. If you hadn't done what you did, things could have turned out far worse today, as it stands nobody has been permanently injured or killed. Many innocents could have died, or worse yet, the blight could have remained hidden rather than being forced into the open. You did more than enough to show that I should have trusted you, if anything I should be apologizing. Had I trusted you, perhaps you would have not had to throw yourself into the line of fire, and getting so badly injured in the process"-Soi Fon finished quietly. "Heh, I'm the one who threatened you, yet your saying sorry? Who exactly is talking to me?"-Yoshirou asked jokingly as he received a second blow to the head, this one a proper punch from the annoyed woman. "Ah yep, that's the real Soi Fon!"-Yoshirou laughed despite the increasingly nasty looking bruise forming on his face. Despite her attempt to keep annoyed, she also laughed lightly at his humour.

Beside them, Yoruichi heard everything, but kept quiet, just continuing to walk. She had already heard the entire story of how Yoshirou had stood his ground before Soi Fon's attempt to kill the Vice Captains, perhaps her intervention earlier saved more than what she had thought it would. From what Soi Fon had told her, it seemed Yoshirou had completely faced her down, and was willing to fight her to protect the others, if she hadn't intervened their relationship might not have been salvageable by the end. **Relationship?** She thought. **Well it seems she leans on him for her support far more than she's willing to admit. I never saw her talk so freely with anyone before; even with me it was more a doting servant than an equal no matter what I tried to do to change her. She treats him as an equal, a person she can relate to…perhaps even love as far as I have seen, he definitely is a person she is willing to protect herself, that's far more than she is willing to do with others, using them as sacrifices in battle to secure victory. Maybe he is what Soi Fon needs to finally act like a real person; this sure will be something interesting to see. **Yoruichi finished as she watched the smiling pair. **Yep, the future sure looks like it's going to be interesting.**

* * *

**Well chapter over, this one has a bit of a feel to it recent chapters have been missing. Sorry for downplaying the importance of the other O.C., I didn't want them to be present in this scene, so a quick note that they left the area was the best I did, sorry XP**

**Anyhow, review or suscribe if ya want! I always like to hear opinions from any readers!**


	25. Final note: Part 1 ends, Part 2 begins

Hello readers, just some warning from me. I know I'm not meant to write chapters without story content, but I might need to do this anyhow. For god knows what reason, my computer is being a bitch, it's refusing to work with my big story. As such, it's now time that I implement the plan I hinted at in earlier chapters, splitting the story up. Really sharp readers would have noticed that one of the chapters prior ended in a strange tone, as if like the ending of a chapter arc. For those who were sharp enough to notice this I salute you! Anyhow, it was deliberate because I feared my computer may start acting up on me one day due to its archaic design.

Well, it seems it was a good precaution, because my computer is having trouble retrieving the information for the story as a whole each time. As such, I have now split the story. For all faithful readers, the story has continued into a second part, all swapped over chapters have been deleted so that I don't get my arse kicked for double posting my story. The newest chapter is among one of the things to have swapped, so if you're looking for the Vizards chapter, it's there too. For those who are reading this only minutes after I've posted this, be patient, fanfiction warned me as the author that my next story will take between 4-8 hours before it's fully available, if you can't find it, have patience, it will become available soon.

Of course, this is all presuming I haven't overstepped the mark and annoyed my readers to the point they don't want to read it. If that is the case, sorry, it's not any heinous plot to get more readers, I'm just sick of my computer playing stupid with me, if anything this move might lose readers, something I pray to god doesn't happen. Chapters will hopefully still be appearing as usual, working on one now after I finish typing this up.

Final reminder, this arc is now complete, the next story will be up in Part 2, aptly named Tale of Yoshirou: Part 2. Why the simple name? Because I have very little creativity with names or summaries XP, seeya there if you do plan to keep reading! For all who favourited this story rather than subscribing to my stories as a whole, sorry your going to have to re-favourite the new story to get any reminders for it, I'm not trying to be a pain, it's just the way my dodgy comp works sorry. As I said, seeya there if you plan to keep on reading! If not…well seeya anyhow.

Oh yeah, just to make it official, if you are reading this, then Part 1 is over, Part 2 is to be found on my profile, skip straight to Chapter 11 once i've put it up to get the newest content!


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